I was really interested when I read Nydia Gunawan’s blog post about how Amazon is partnering with USPS to provide customers with 7 day delivery service. After reading her summary, it was very clear that Amazon is improving it’s services to give it a competitive advantage in comparison to other online stores. Amazon is analyzing its market demands and in seeing the growth of the online shopping industry, has decided to add to its value proposition by offering round the clock shipping which would be it’s point of difference. While this service is only offered to Amazon prime users, the convenience of this option will attract more customers to sign up to be prime members, increasing Amazon’s revenues.

A good video summary:

However, in this video, the issue of how Amazon’s shipping costs are extremely high is raised, and the question is whether this new revenue stream is worth it or not, as Amazon is garnering losses since revenues are less than the costs of shipping. Regardless, stock prices are rising and as customers experience the effectiveness of this service, word of mouth will increase,  positive brand identity will be created and Amazon will be established  as a point of reference for a quality and efficient shipping service. This new delivery schedule will be especially popular with frequent online shoppers who want to receive their products as soon as possible.

Image from:http://www.businessweek.com/videos/2013-11-11/amazon-is-so-powerful-it-can-open-usps-on-sundays