"No-rush shipping": Longer delivery time in exchange for mini discount

Just in time for Black Week, one of the best-selling weeks of the year, Amazon is testing a new delivery option for customers of its Prime service in Germany. In addition to the usual premium and standard delivery as well as delivery on a specific "Amazon delivery day", Prime users can now select "No-Rush shipping".

However, this shipping option requires some patience for the customer: the heise editorial team had to wait eight days instead of twenty-four hours for a test basket full of electronic gadgets. The online department store explains that customers with more urgent requests are given priority.

Amazon is sweetening the waiting time for its customers with a small discount. Certain items in the shopping cart receive a one percent discount. However, customers should check their order carefully, as the discount does not apply to many goods.

For example, Apple Airpods are eligible for a discount, as are Tasmota sockets, a Danish terminal block set or an electronic door lock. Amazon also subtracts a generous €0.24 from the invoice amount for martial arts accessories, but not for LCD TVs or Android smartphones.

Only for Prime customers with plenty of time

The "No-rush shipping" option is also only available to Prime customers. In the author's personal environment, however, the option appeared for every user of Amazon's subscription service, so it is possibly activated for every user of the subscription service and not just for a subset.

It is also unclear whether the availability and amount of the discount, as well as the delivery time, depend on the order volume of other customers, i.e. whether they change dynamically as Christmas approaches.

If the delivery times always increase by a week, as our test showed, many Prime customers are likely to miss out on the discount in the cent range – especially during the stressful Christmas period.

(cku)