Although Amazon has emerged as the most powerful bookseller in the world, they do retain a certain amount of healthy competition from their brick and mortar rivals. Physical bookstores typically do even better against the online giant as we get close to the holidays, and people have less time to accommodate long shipping times.  They call this service Local Express Delivery.

Amazon has come up with a strategy to make shopping even more convenient for last minute Christmas shoppers by offering a same day delivery option in major centers. This newest service is only currently available in seven cities, but three more will be added shortly. The cities the service is currently available in include Washington D.C., Las Vegas, Baltimore, Seattle, Boston New York, and Philadelphia. The first expansions to the service area will take place in Indianapolis, Phoenix, and Chicago.

For many people, the worst part about last minute holiday shopping is having to contend with the throngs of people that are out picking up last minute gifts. This is something they will be able to easily avoid with this new same day shipping option from Amazon. The offer is going to extend as late as 1:00 PM Christmas Eve, making last minute shopping from your home computer simple.

The prices of the new service will differ depending on the type of account that you have with Amazon. Anyone that is an Amazon Prime Customer will only have to pay $5.99 per item that they want shipped the same day. While others will face higher rates, they will still get the same quick turnaround time on shipping.

The best thing about the newer service is that it is going to open up the usefulness of shopping online in a much more practical way. The problem with the online method of making purchases is that most sites always require you to wait to get your products, something that has driven many people out to a brick and mortar store. That barrier is now being removed.

The only problem that people have so far with the service is the amount that it costs to get this same day service. A Goldman Sachs analyst by the name of James Mitchell does predict that those prices will be dropped in the future though. Once more people become aware of the new service and their shippers are able to keep up with the demand, the price for this same day shipping should become more accessible to the average shopper.