Amazon is testing a new ultra-fast delivery service in the UK, “Amazon Now,” as it steps up efforts to make online shopping almost instantaneous.
The service is being rolled out in select Southwark postcodes in London and promises delivery of groceries and household essentials in around 30 minutes or less. Amazon says the offering will expand to additional areas over the coming months.
Announcing the launch of the pilot scheme, Amazon described Amazon Now as the latest extension of its push toward faster delivery. John Boumphrey, Amazon’s UK Country Manager, said the service “brings a new level of speed and convenience to customers,” building on the millions of products the company already delivers on a same-day or next-day basis across the UK.
Curated items
Amazon Now is available seven days a week via the Amazon website and app. Customers in eligible postcodes can order from thousands of items spread across 35 categories.
These place a strong emphasis on high-demand groceries and household essentials: the product range includes fresh food staples such as milk, eggs, fruit and vegetables, alongside toiletries, pet supplies, vitamins, protein snacks, and low- or no-alcohol drinks.
Rather than replicating a full supermarket experience, Amazon says the selection has been deliberately curated around popular, frequently purchased items.
Pricing designed to reinforce Prime
Delivery fees for Amazon Now vary depending on whether a customer is a Prime member or not. Prime users benefit from discounted delivery starting at £1.99 per order, compared to £3.99 for non-members. A £2 surcharge applies to all orders under £15, regardless of membership.
The pricing structure underlines how central Prime remains to Amazon’s strategy. Alongside rapid delivery, Prime members already receive free shipping on millions of items, access to exclusive shopping events, and bundled entertainment through Prime Video and Amazon Music.
Household essentials become a bigger priority
Amazon’s investment in faster grocery delivery reflects growing demand in the category. The company says groceries and household essentials now account for roughly one in three items ordered daily on its platform. In early 2025, its “Everyday Essentials” category reportedly grew almost twice as fast as its other retail categories combined.
Amazon Now customers will only see a subset of these products, but Amazon is positioning the service as a way to capture urgent, top-up purchases — the kind traditionally handled by local convenience stores or supermarkets.
Question marks — and corner shops
Despite its promise, Amazon Now is not without its limitations. Availability is currently limited to parts of Southwark, and the product range involved is smaller than that which you’ll find from Amazon Fresh and other online grocery shops. For smaller orders, delivery fees and surcharges could quickly erode the convenience factor, particularly for non-Prime customers.
Amazon Now also raises questions around sustainability and economics. Even with Amazon’s scale, ultra-fast delivery is costly to operate, and critics argue that it places additional pressure on urban logistics networks and delivery workers.
For local retailers, the service intensifies competition in an area where speed and proximity were once key advantages — corner shop owners will not necessarily welcome the rollout of Amazon Now.
Why this matters to ecommerce merchants
Amazon Now is another sign that delivery expectations in ecommerce continue to escalate. As Amazon normalises 30-minute delivery for essentials, next-day shipping may begin to feel slow by comparison.
Competing purely on speed will be unrealistic for most ecommerce merchants, making differentiation through branding, specialist products, customer experience, or sustainability increasingly important.
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Chris Singleton is the Founder and Director of Ecommercetrix.
Since graduating from Trinity College Dublin in 1999, Chris has advised many businesses on how to grow their operations via a strong online presence, and now he shares his experience and expertise through his articles on the Ecommercetrix website.
Chris started his career as a data analyst for Irish marketing company Precision Marketing Information; since then he has worked on digital projects for a wide range of well-known organizations including Cancer Research UK, Hackney Council, Data Ireland, and Prescription PR. He then went on to found the popular business apps review site Style Factory, followed by Ecommercetrix.
He is also the author of a book on SEO for beginners, Super Simple SEO.