The e-commerce retail giant is shutting down its standalone Prime Now delivery app and directing users who need fast delivery on groceries and other goods to order through either Amazon app or Website.
Prime Now app will be retired worldwide by the end of this year, Amazon said.
Initially, launched in 2014, Prime Now was created to offer deliveries of essential items within hours for prime members. The service was originally available for a few numbers of cities but later expanded to over 5,000 locations all around the world.
“To make this experience even more seamless for customers, we are moving the experience from a separate Prime Now app onto the Amazon app and website so customers can shop all Amazon has to offer from one convenient location,” – Amazon’s Vice President of Grocery, Stephenie Landry said.
Consumers will be able to choose 2-hour delivery options from Amazon Fresh or Whole Foods on essentials and other goods via the Amazon app or website.
“In 2014, I wrote a six-page document outlining a service that would allow customers to get last-minute items in about an hour. We even gave the project the internal code name ‘Houdini.’ In just 111 days, our team took the concept outlined in that six-page document and turned it into Prime Now, which became the foundation for Amazon’s ultrafast grocery and same-day delivery businesses” – Landry wrote in the blog post.
Additionally, Prime Now services have already discontinued app and website in India, Japan, and Singapore. The move had been underway for some time as it began directing users to the Amazon app and Website through pop-up notifications.