Amazon has launched their one hour delivery service, Prime Now in Paris and it’s caused an uproar with the authorities with the Mayor of Paris warning that it could “seriously destabilize the balance Parisian business”.
For Parisians it would appear to be good news, orders can be delivered within one hour for €5.90, or within two hours for free. The only other stipulation is that the minimum order value is $20.00. As is the case in the UK, you’ll need to download the Amazon app to access Prime Now.
Paris is a very different country to the UK however and their protectionism is legendary. They’ve made it difficult for Amazon to compete on book sales and when they banned Amazon from offering free delivery the ecommerce giant responding by imposing a €0.01 delivery charge.
Now they’re concerned that Paris’ boutiques will lose business if you can have goods delivered from Amazon within the hour. There is talk of applying the same rules to Amazon as would apply to a new supermarket opening up for business in Paris.
On the one hand it’s self evident that the High Streets are struggling and it’s laudable that the Parisian authorities want to protect their small independent traders. On the other, the world is changing and convenience and speed of delivery are what consumers want. They may rue the passing of their small shop keepers but that in itself is unlikely to stop French Amazon Prime subscribers from ordering with Prime Now.
3 Responses
it wasnt long ago we were discussing the possibility of weapons ending up in Amazon FBA warehouses.
Now you can have said weapons delivered anywhere in Paris within an hour?
Am i the only one spotting some potential problems there?
Paris is a very different country indeed!