The Amazon-Walmart Delivery War Just Got a Lot More Fun to Watch

If you love speed and competition, you’re getting a lot more of both.

EXPERT OPINION BY BILL MURPHY JR., FOUNDER OF UNDERSTANDABLY AND CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, INC. @BILLMURPHYJR

Illustration: Inc.; Photo: Getty Images

Americans love speed. We also love competition. As of yesterday, we may be getting a lot more of both.

I say this after Amazon announced that it’s rolling out 1-hour and 3-hour delivery options across the United States:

One-hour delivery is now live in hundreds of cities — including Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., and smaller markets like Boise and Des Moines.

Three-hour delivery is available in more than 2,000 cities and towns.

More than 90,000 products are eligible, covering the kind of everyday inventory you’d find at a supercenter: pantry staples, cleaning supplies, over-the-counter medications, electronics, clothing, toys.

My colleague Ali Donaldson has a good rundown of all the details, including pricing.

The move is a direct shot at Walmart, which has spent years building toward exactly this kind of capability — and says it can reach 95 percent of U.S. households in under three hours, using its thousands of stores as local fulfillment hubs.

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A race worth watching

I’ve enjoyed covering this rivalry for a while now—and if they say all writing is autobiography, I acknowledge that might be part of the story.

Let’s just say that if you’re vacationing with extended family in very rural Arizona and you discover that you have one fewer bed in your rental house than you have people who need a place to sleep, you might be surprised to learn which gargantuan last-mile-expert retailer can deliver an air mattress in an hour.

Ditto if you’re an occasionally forgetful dad who realizes literally on Christmas Eve that there are a few relatives for whom you forgot to buy presents, and you’re wondering whether it’s Amazon or Walmart that can make like Kris Kringle and deliver presents to your door with just a few hours to spare.

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