Amazon accelerates delivery race with 30-minute dropoffs in dozens of U.S. cities

An Amazon worker pulls a cart of packages for delivery on in New York City, July 12, 2022. Michael M. Santiago | Amazon is rolling out "ultra-fast" deliveries to get packages to consumers in 30 minutes or less in dozens of cities across the U.S., the company announced Tuesday, marking its most aggressive push yet into quick commerce. The company started piloting the service, called Amazon Now , in a handful of American cities in December. It's also launched deliveries in 15 minutes or less in parts of Brazil, Mexico, India and the United Arab Emirates. Amazon said in a blog post that it's expanding the service to new cities including Austin, Texas, as well as Denver, Minneapolis and Phoenix and more parts of Seattle, Philadelphia, Dallas and Atlanta. The company said it plans to bring Amazon Now to "tens of millions of customers in these and other cities" by the end of this year, up from the millions of customers that can access it today. After getting customers hooked on two-day shipping and then next-day delivery, Amazon has been working to make same-day arrivals the new standard, and is further pressuring gig economy companies like Instacart , DoorDash and Uber Eats, which drop off orders within a few hours. Amazon recently brought 1-hour and 3-hour delivery options to more parts of the U.S. …