On January 19, Amazon announced the debut of its first Amazon Now quick-commerce site in the U.K., covering the Southwark district of London. According to Elisa Michelin Salomon, Amazon’s EU quick-commerce operations lead, the service went live with an initial assortment of 1,200 fresh grocery and everyday-essentials SKUs. Deliveries promise arrival within 30 minutes, leveraging a micro-fulfilment centre repurposed from a prior delivery hub. Internal forecasts suggest the London pilot could process up to 1,500 orders per day by March, representing a potential annualized run-rate exceeding £60 million in gross merchandise value if consumer uptake matches projections from similar launches in India and the UAE.

Building on its U.K. rollout, Amazon is extending its 30-minute delivery promise to select U.S. markets. The company has activated two specialized quick-fulfilment sites in Seattle and Philadelphia, each occupying under 15,000 square feet and stocked with 2,500 high-velocity grocery and household items. Amazon expects these micro-hubs to reduce driver trip lengths by 40% and to handle up to 2,000 orders per week per site. This follows internal data showing that orders under 30 minutes achieve a customer repeat rate 25% higher than its standard same-day offering.

Simultaneously, Amazon broke ground on a 229,000-square-foot Amazon Fresh + general merchandise megastore in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. This will be Amazon’s largest physical retail location to date, combining a full grocery assortment, general merchandise, and a customer showroom for devices and appliances. The facility is designed to serve as both a high-volume retail outlet and a regional fulfilment node, with space allocated for in-store pick-up and returns processing. Company documents estimate the store could generate $150 million in annual sales and reduce delivery distances by 20% for customers within a three-mile radius.