Amazon US: Offline retail stores can sell goods online. What impact will this have on cross-border sellers?

Instead of having items shipped from Amazon’s warehouses , customers buy products from local stores on the Amazon website or app and have Amazon Logistics pick them up at the retailer and deliver them to the customer’s home or business — often the same day .

But take a dispassionate look and you’ll find that some cities only have one store that can be found online because the program hasn’t been rolled out on a large scale yet . But if Amazon rolls this out to retailers and brands across the U.S., how long will it take for mom-and- pop stores to upload their merchandise to Amazon and offer free shipping to local customers ?

The project could be a game-changer for shopping centres and high streets, which are still suffering from reduced footfall in the wake of the pandemic .

If customers shop on Amazon and see that local prices are so different from online or out-of-town prices , they may decide that same-day delivery isn’t a good deal . However, there will always be times when consumers need their products quickly , and their concern will no longer be price — it’s how quickly Amazon can get the goods to them .

Amazon members in more than 10 cities, including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Miami, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Seattle and Washington, D.C., can now shop online at retail stores such as PacSun, GNC, SuperDry and Diesel and receive their items on the same day. Some stores also offer home delivery and pick-up options.

Customers simply find a retail store in their area on the Amazon app and choose same-day delivery. Amazon sends the order to the store, and a retail associate will process the order . If the order is placed early enough, an Amazon delivery associate will pick up the order from the retail store and deliver it to the customer on the same day.

The service is free for U.S. Prime members on purchases of $25 or more and costs $2.99 ​​for orders under $ 25 . Additional retailers will join the program in the coming months , including Sur La Table and 100% Pure.

This plan will affect the sales of online sellers to a certain extent. However, the products of local retailers in the United States are mainly concentrated in daily necessities. Cross-border sellers only need to focus on their own categories. In the long run, there will not be much impact.

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