The news: Amazon has partnered with delivery firm Gopuff to bring ultra-fast delivery to several UK markets, including Birmingham, Cambridge, Leeds, London, and Manchester.
The details: Thanks to Gopuff’s urban micro-fulfillment centers, Amazon customers in those markets will be able to buy thousands of products—including groceries, baby essentials, snacks, and alcohol—and have them delivered in under 60 minutes, even as fast as 15 minutes.
- The national rollout of Amazon’s partnership with Gopuff follows an initial launch in Birmingham and Salford in May.
- While there is no minimum order, delivery fees vary. The fee is £6.98 ($9.47) for orders under £12.50 ($16.96), £3.48 ($4.72) for those between £12.51 ($16.97) and £15 ($20.35), and £1.99 ($2.70) for orders over £15.
The rationale behind the move: Quick commerce at relatively low delivery fees fits squarely within Amazon’s core value proposition of convenience, savings, and speed.
- While ultra-fast delivery isn’t feasible in all markets due to infrastructure and density constraints, it can thrive in dense urban centers like London, where skipping a store trip to grab a lemon, toilet paper, and baby wipes is a meaningful convenience—especially for young parents and time-strapped professionals.
- By partnering with Gopuff, Amazon can avoid building out the costly infrastructure necessary to get orders to shoppers’ doors in quick fashion.
Zooming out: Amazon’s investment in quick commerce isn’t limited to the UK.
- The retailer began testing rapid delivery in India late last year. It recently announced the launch of five fulfillment centers to accelerate deliveries across smaller towns and cities—a strategic move to better compete with homegrown rivals like Blinkit (Eternal Ltd.), Instamart (Swiggy Ltd.), and Zepto in the rapidly growing quick commerce space that will reach $18.3 billion by 2027.
- In the UAE, Amazon this month introduced Amazon Bazaar, a mobile-only section within the Amazon.ae app that offers 15-minute delivery on select items, including food and daily essentials.
Our take: Amazon’s focus is crystal clear: Get orders to shoppers’ doors as fast as possible.
- In the US, it has pushed next-day delivery as the new standard—even as it rapidly expands same-day service. In some cases, delivery happens within hours (for example, a Prime Day order we placed at 6 am today arrived at our door by noon.)
- To extend that promise beyond urban hubs, Amazon is investing over $4 billion through 2026 to triple the size of its rural delivery network. By year-end, it expects to bring same- or next-day delivery to more than 4,000 smaller cities and rural communities.
Speed isn’t just a perk. It is the key component within Amazon’s growth strategy. The faster the company delivers, the more frequently consumers turn to Amazon for their everyday needs—and the harder it becomes for competitors to keep up.