Amazon is ratcheting up fast delivery and raising the stakes for rivals like Walmart
Jason Redmond / AFP via Getty Images
- Amazon sets a new delivery speed record in 2025, with over 13 billion same- or next-day deliveries worldwide.
- Prime members in the US received a 30% increase in fast deliveries in 2025, the company said.
- Amazon's rural expansion intensifies competition with Walmart in delivery services.
Amazon set a new Prime speed record in 2025.
On Tuesday, Amazon said that it delivered more than 13 billion items worldwide the same or next day last year, marking its fastest performance ever and the third consecutive year it has broken its record.
Prime members in the US received over 8 billion same or next-day deliveries, a more than 30% increase from 2024. Groceries and everyday essentials accounted for about half of those orders, according to company data shared in a press release.
Amazon said it delivered a record 4 billion grocery and everyday essential items the same or next day in the US and expanded free same-day and next-day delivery to more than 4,000 smaller cities and towns. In those areas, everyday essentials accounted for the majority of repeat purchases, and the number of monthly rural customers nearly doubled.
Delivery speed has become a central battleground in retail, and the expansion puts Amazon in more direct competition with Walmart.
Walmart has leaned on its network of more than 4,600 US stores to offer same-day delivery to the vast majority of households and has promoted ultra-fast fulfillment, including drone deliveries.
Amazon has been pushing the limit of speed in recent years. The company expanded its Amazon Now service in 2025, which promises delivery in under 30 minutes, in markets such as India, Mexico, and the UAE, and is testing the option in the US and UK.
Business Insider previously reported that Amazon has been reshaping its logistics network with larger same-day warehouses, a new upstream distribution layer known as 1DC, and micro-fulfillment centers inside select Whole Foods stores.
In its most recent earnings report, Amazon reported roughly $67 billion for the quarter in net sales from online stores.
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