Amazon Prime Now: How it works, Cities, Price and Distribution

Imagine that you have returned from your vacation early and you have all the refrigerator empty, you go in the car thinking that you do not have anything for breakfast or lunch the next day … You can order from Amazon Prime Now and when you arrive you will receive it, for example. It is also useful if you telecommute or if you are taking care of your children and cannot go out, for example, if you need something urgent such as diapers, wipes, a bottle nipple, etc. If you ask for it, you can receive it in two hours without leaving home in an emergency: your multiplier has broken, your computer mouse, you have no batteries. Or simply if you need a last minute gift and you don’t know where to buy it.

What is Amazon Prime Now?

It is one of the Amazon services that allows us to receive a series of products in two-hour time frames. It allows us to make a quick purchase on Amazon that we will receive in two hours at home and not only of the usual products of the platform but you can buy meat, milk, eggs, fish or fruits. But also books, batteries that you need, a light bulb, duct tape, a multiplier …

What can we buy?

There are thousands of different options and you will not only find the usual on Amazon but also food is included. You can order food items, drugstore, beauty, sports, home, toys, gifts, electronics, accessories and baby food, bread, ready meals or Amazon devices for a last minute gift such as an Amazon Echo speaker, any of the e-books , a Fire TV Stick …

From a mobile phone to a baby food, from a hiking backpack or an anklet or an anti-mosquito device to a watermelon or a pineapple. Practically everything you might need urgently.

When can we use it?

As we have said in previous paragraphs, there are very useful situations in which Prime Now can be a salvation. Maybe you don’t want it to make your monthly grocery, drugstore or perfume shop but it can be useful.

• If you come back from vacation and you have absolutely everything empty and you need to have dinner when you arrive or have breakfast the next day you, your partner or your children.
• In case you have stayed if something essential for children or babies such as bottles, pacifiers, diapers or any essential product.
• If you are going to have a party and you cannot leave home to buy something that you lack: you can prepare the rest while that arrives. Be it balloons, a topping for a cake or whatever else you can think of.
• For a last-minute gift : Amazon usually extends the distribution of Prime Now on special dates like Christmas, for example. For a birthday you are invited to on a Sunday and there is nothing open nearby to solve the gift.
• You have left work late and the supermarket has been closed: you can ask for the purchase or whatever you need along the way …
• Improvised mouse Pérez . Parents will understand. A tooth falls out at eight in the afternoon and you don’t have anything ready but you can’t go out and buy it either. It can be quite an interesting solution.
• You want to shop in places that are far from home . For example, Madrid delivers fresh produce every day from the Mercado de la Paz.
• You are going on a trip and you have forgotten to buy a charger, a multiplier, batteries for the camera or a travel bag but you can no longer go out because you have to take care of the luggage. You can also find it.

What advantages does it have?

The first and main advantage is immediacy. You receive the products in just two hours at home and practically no other supermarket service offers you this in any city except for some alliances such as Día con Glovo, for example, carrying their products. Another advantage over Glovo, which can be a competitor in terms of immediacy, is that Prime Now does not limit your purchase. That is, you can buy 24 one-liter cartons of milk, two watermelons and a melon without worrying about weight or size. Something that if we ask Glovo to bring us may not be possible due to the dimensions or weight of the order.

His schedule, along with the speed, is one of the advantages. Normally the delivery times can be from 10:00 in the morning to 22:00 at night , at most. Here we have a distribution that includes Sundays and holidays, which allows you to ask first thing in the morning if you need to receive something before leaving home, at eight in the morning, or even at twelve at night if you have an emergency.

Also the shipping price is an advantage over others. Many online supermarkets charge you for shipping (which is usually more than 5 euros) regardless of your purchase. In Mercadona, for example, shipping costs will always be 7.21 regardless of the purchase price. In Alcampo they will also always buy you a shipment that can be 9.90 euros regardless of the price or Carrefour will force you to pay expenses unless you buy more than 120 euros. But with Prime Now the expenses are free from 40 euros or 2.90 euros from 10 euros, much lower than any price in other supermarkets.

Another strong point is its variety . Not only do you find the usual things in a supermarket but it has all kinds of products: home and garden, sports or electronics. You can ask for a book, a video game, a music CD, a razor or even a mobile phone or camera that you need.

How much does it cost?

Amazon Prime Now does not have an exact price nor can you purchase it individually. It is included in the Amazon Prime subscription that costs 36 euros a year and includes other types of services such as Amazon Prime Music with the possibility of listening to songs, Amazon Prime Video for original series or movies or Amazon Prime Reading to transfer ebooks to the Kindle or to book apps. The Prime Now price is included in the rest of Amazon services and you cannot pay it separately nor can you choose not to pay it if you have the rest.

Amazon Prime includes:

• Prime Video
• Free 1 day shipping
• Prime Reading
• Amazon Photos with unlimited storage for photos
• Delivery on launch day
• Amazon Music Unlimited
• Prime Now
• Twitch Prime
• Amazon Family
• Prime Music

It has a price of 36 euros a year although you can get offers such as Amazon Prime Student that allows you to have advantages: 18 euros a year for the subscription and exclusive discounts on some products.

Where does it work?

To know how it works you have to enter the zip code on the Prime Now page and check if it is within the shipping area. It is generally available in Madrid, Barcelona and surroundings and also in Valencia and Seville, although we hope it will reach more cities in Spain very soon.

When they send?

Amazon Prime Now allows you to choose delivery times of two hours as long as you request it with a minimum time. That is, you can make a purchase at ten in the morning and select to have it sent to you from 12 noon to 2:00 p.m. It also works every day and practically at any time of the day, including Sundays and evenings. In Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona and its surroundings, deliveries are made from Monday to Sunday from 8:00 in the morning until 00:00 at night. In the case of Seville, it works from Monday to Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and you can choose in two-hour slots, as we tell you.

Once your shipment has been processed, you receive a notification to follow the shipment in real time and know at all times where it is or when it will arrive.

Minimum order

The minimum order will depend on the store in which you order. For example, if the products are from Amazon you will need to have a minimum order of ten euros to receive it at home. The advantage is that you can add products of all kinds. That is, if you need a plug and it does not reach ten euros, you can add something that you know that you are going to spend such as milk cartons, tissues, etc. All departments form a joint order and you can order whatever you want. Of course, you will have to pay the shipping. In case the products are from Amazon, free delivery is for orders over 40 euros.

The minimum order will depend on the store you choose and Amazon usually shows you several options. In Valencia and Seville, for example, the order will be made from a La Plaza de Día supermarket. If you are in Madrid, there are several options: that Amazon itself sells its products, from El Mercado de la Paz or from the Lavinia store. In Barcelona you will have two options: Plaza de Día or Amazon. In general, the minimum order is 10 euros and shipping costs are free from an order of 40 euros, including any product you can think of.

How to buy?

You can do it from the Amazon Prime Now website or you can do it through the applications for iOS and Android, both free for mobile phones or tablets. If you need something specific, simply use the search engine and write what you want. But you can also browse between the options: you can choose to buy by department or buy by store. It will depend on your location if there are some stores or others available but when you touch on them you will see the catalog options, the offers available at that time, etc.

To buy, follow the steps below:

• Enter your zip code to see the options
• Choose the store where you want to buy
• Choose the department or browse the offers
• Add to the cart all the products you want
• Tap on the basket to start the order
• Choose the two-hour slot in which you want it to arrive
• Choose the shipping address (it will detect the ones you have on Amazon)
• Choose a payment method (it will also detect stored ones)
• Tap on “Place order”
• They will send you a confirmation to your email
• You will be able to see a shipment tracking on the map
• You will receive the purchase at home in the corresponding two hours

What are the differences from Amazon Pantry?

Amazon Pantry announced the closure in Spain in May 2020 but you may think that Prime Now is the same and that it does not work either. Yes, Prime Now continues to work and is much more complete. The basic difference is the delivery times: Amazon Pantry was designed to replace an online supermarket with which you make a purchase and receive it at home just like in Mercadona or Carrefour. But in the case of Prime Now, you have the immediacy: you receive the product in just an hour or two and you don’t have to wait for the next day. Another difference is that Pantry was available in a large number of cities and municipalities but not Prime Now, only available in some areas of Spain. Also, as we say, Amazon Pantry announced its closure in May 2020 but Prime Now is still in operation.