Amazon has this week discontinued a popular delivery perk.
The Amazon Today service provided same-day delivery from select local stores in customers' neighborhoods. Unlike traditional Prime delivery, which ships items from Amazon's warehouse network, Today connected customers to local retailers like Staples, Petco, and SuperDry.
Stores - either independents just in one town or chains with multiple locations - could sign up to Today. In addition to home delivery, Amazon Today lets customers order items for pickup directly from brick-and-mortar stores.
Prime members enjoyed the service for free on orders over $25, with a $2.99 fee for smaller purchases. For non-Prime customers fees varied by retailer.
"This will streamline our offerings for customers, and the majority of selection our customers buy from Amazon Today will continue to be available for same- and one-day delivery," the spokesperson told DailyMail.com.
Amazon shut down Today for most retail partners by December 2, with limited access running through January 24 for select stores. Bosses had quietly announced the axing of Amazon Today in October.
"The change has upset some Prime members," said a user on Reddit. "They don't even appear to be trying anymore."
"Annoying but I'll probably end up with fewer spontaneous purchases so probably a good thing in the long run," another wrote.
'So far this year,' CEO Andy Jassy said during a recent earnings call, 'our speed of delivery for Prime customers has been faster than ever before, with more than 5 billion units arriving the same day or next day.'
"With more optimal inbound inventory placement, we expect to enable faster speeds, consolidate more orders in one box, and reduce inventory transfers once items reach a fulfillment center," Jassy told investors.
The removal of the perk also comes after Amazon confused its loyal shoppers with an unannounced change to its shopping app logo. The well-known cardboard colored box logo with a black arrow has seen a subtle change in the latest update for the app. The little square symbolizing the tape that seals Amazon packages has changed from its well-known light blue to stripes of dark and light green.