Overview

Amazon announced that 2025 became its third straight record‑breaking year for ultra‑fast delivery, moving more than 13 billion items to customers within the same day or the next day worldwide. In the United States alone, over 8 billion of those shipments reached Prime members, a jump of roughly 30 % compared with 2024. The speed surge pushes buyer expectations higher and makes participation in Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) increasingly essential for third‑party sellers who want to stay competitive.

Key Points

• U.S. same‑day/next‑day volume — Amazon delivered more than 8 billion items to Prime shoppers in the United States, reflecting a 30 % year‑over‑year rise and cementing the market’s appetite for instant fulfillment.
• Rural reach expansion — The company now offers same‑day or next‑day service to over 4,000 smaller towns and rural communities across 44 states, extending the ultra‑fast promise to customers who previously faced multi‑day shipping.
• Grocery and essentials integration — Thousands of perishable grocery SKUs joined the standard same‑day pipeline, resulting in a record 4 billion grocery and essential‑item deliveries and pushing those categories to represent roughly half of all ultra‑fast shipments.
• AI‑driven inventory placement — Advanced machine‑learning models predict regional demand and pre‑position stock in the most strategic fulfillment nodes, shortening the distance between inventory and the end consumer.
• Sub‑30‑minute “Amazon Now” rollout — The ultra‑rapid service expanded to India, Mexico, and the United Arab Emirates, while pilot programs continue in the United States and United Kingdom, signaling a future where minutes, not hours, define delivery speed.
• Prime cost savings — In 2025, the average Prime member saved about $550 on delivery fees, avoided roughly 64 in‑store trips (over 55 hours of travel), and accessed free delivery on more than 300 million items across 35 categories.

How Amazon’s Ultra‑Fast Delivery System Works

1. Demand forecasting with AI — Amazon’s algorithms analyze historical sales, weather patterns, local events, and search trends to forecast product demand for each micro‑region. For example, the system predicted a surge in portable air‑conditioners in Texas ahead of a heatwave and earmarked additional units for fulfillment centers within a 150‑mile radius.