Key takeaways:
- We’re expanding Same-Day and Next-Day delivery to over 4,000 smaller cities, towns, and rural communities by the end of 2025.
- We’re investing over $4 billion to triple the size of our delivery network by 2026, with a focus on small towns and rural communities across the country.
- AI is helping us predict local customer preferences, so we can stock popular items alongside products curated for specific communities.
- This expansion is about transforming daily life for rural customers, who typically face limited delivery options when shopping online.
As we continually work to improve the lives of all our customers, we’re announcing plans to expand the convenience and reliability of Same-Day and Next-Day Delivery to tens of millions of U.S. customers in more than 4,000 smaller cities, towns, and rural communities by the end of the year. After delivering to Prime members at record-breaking speeds in 2023 and 2024, we are continuing to innovate to deliver even faster in 2025. So far this year the number of items delivered the same or next day in the U.S. increased over 30% compared to the same period last year.
This expansion goes beyond speed. It's about transforming daily life for rural customers, who typically live farther from brick-and-mortar retailers, have fewer product and brand choices, and face limited delivery options when shopping online.
By investing in rural communities, Amazon’s speedy delivery will save customers time and money regardless of where they live, from North Padre Island, Texas and Asbury, Iowa to Lewes, Delaware and Fort Seneca, Ohio. With Prime, members have access to unlimited free Same-Day Delivery when spending over $25 at checkout.
“Everybody loves fast delivery. So, whether you live in Monmouth, Iowa or in downtown Los Angeles, now you're going to have the same fantastic Amazon customer experience: the ability to get the wide variety of items you need to keep your household running every day, delivered the same or next day," said Doug Herrington, CEO of Worldwide Amazon Stores.
Faster access to everyday essentials
One of the biggest benefits of this expansion is the option for customers to shop our everyday essentials, which encompass a vast selection of affordable groceries and household goods. These items are speed-critical, and when customers need them, they often want them delivered as soon as possible. No one wants to wait two days to receive paper towels, diapers, or dog food when they’ve run out.
This is why we have started offering a large selection of everyday essentials for Same-Day Delivery, making it easier than ever for customers in small towns and rural communities to quickly stock up on groceries and household goods without needing to make an extra trip to the store.
In the first quarter of 2025, our fast delivery speeds helped drive our everyday essentials selection—comprising groceries and household essentials—to grow more than twice as fast as all other categories in the U.S. We are one of the largest grocers in the U.S., with over $100 billion in gross sales, even when you exclude sales from Whole Foods Market and Amazon Fresh.
The response from customers in the more than 1,000 smaller cities, towns, and rural communities where we have already begun offering free Same-Day and Next-Day Delivery has been very positive. As a result of the faster delivery speeds, customers in these areas are shopping our store more frequently and purchasing household essentials at meaningfully higher rates. Of the top 50 repurchased items for Same-Day Delivery in these areas, over 90% are Amazon everyday essentials items.
Innovating for faster deliveries
Here’s how we are continuing to innovate to deliver faster for customers living in small towns and rural communities:
- Investing over $4 billion to triple the size of our delivery network by the end of 2026, with a focus on small towns and rural communities across the country, bringing faster delivery speeds and more jobs to these areas. For each new facility we open, we estimate an average of 170 jobs will be created at the delivery stations themselves, plus many more through driving opportunities with the DSP and Amazon Flex programs. For those in full-time roles, our delivery stations provide an average hourly wage nearly triple the federal minimum and benefits like health care from day one of employment.
- Transforming existing rural delivery stations into hybrid hubs that serve multiple functions. This includes storing inventory on site to enable delivery within hours and preparing packages for final delivery to customers. This innovative approach maximizes our existing rural infrastructure to position products closer to customers’ doorsteps and reduce transportation distances.
- Using advanced machine learning algorithms to predict which items will resonate with local Prime members based on their unique needs. This includes stocking a mix of the most-popular and frequently purchased items like wireless headphones, coffee pods, crackers, paper towels, and diapers, and products curated to fit local preferences like wild bird food in Dubuque, Iowa, travel backpacks in Findlay, Ohio, and after-sun body butter in Sharptown, Maryland.
Customers can see whether their area has Same-Day Delivery by visiting amazon.com/samedaystore and browsing by category, price point, and retail store. Customers can also look for “free delivery today” next to product names while shopping across Amazon.
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