Hello, Quartz Index readers!
We used to be more patient.
Americans were willing to wait five and a half days for packages with free shipping to arrive in 2012. Last year, it was less than five days. In another decade, it could be no time at all.
Our expected wait time for free deliveries has been falling steadily as more and more people subscribe to Prime, Amazon’s annual membership that comes with free two-day shipping, according to research from consulting firm AlixPartners and Morgan Stanley.
In 2012, 50% of respondents were willing to wait up to a week for a package to arrive. By 2016, that had fallen to 33%. Meanwhile, the share of people with super-fast expectations has been rising. In 2016, 12% of consumers expected free deliveries to arrive in an average of two days (the standard for Prime), up from 4% who expected that in 2012.
Morgan Stanley correlates America’s faster shipping expectations with Amazon Prime’s growing membership and continued investments in its delivery capabilities.
Amazon also keeps raising the bar. The company now offers Prime members free one-day shipping on more than a million items in over 5,000 US cities and towns. It also offers free same-day delivery on orders of $35 or more of eligible items in a limited number of metro areas. —Ali Griswold
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