On Tuesday, Amazon gave tipplers one more reason to consider its $99-a-year Amazon Prime service. The online marketplace rolled out its Prime Now rapid-home-delivery option in its hometown, Seattle, and added beer, wine, and liquor to the list of deliverable items. It has been delivering alcohol in London since June, but Seattle is the first —and, as of now, only — U.S. city where you can get Amazon to do your liquor shopping for you.
Amazon says it will consider adding alcohol to its Prime Now offerings in other cities, so cross your fingers drinkers in New York, Austin, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Atlanta, Baltimore, and Indianapolis.
How does booze delivery work? You order on a smartphone app, and you can have the alcohol delivered within an hour for $7.99, or if you can wait up to two hours, it's free (assuming you are a Prime member). Cost-wise, "Amazon Prime Now's price for a 750ml bottle of Absolute Vodka, including state taxes, was almost exactly the same as the price of the same bottle at the neighborhood liquor store," said Todd Bishop at GeekWire, where they tested out the service on Tuesday. They ponied up for the one-hour delivery and were happy with the results: "Thirty-four minutes later, we were pouring screwdrivers in the break room."
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