The news: Amazon is testing ultra-fast delivery for fresh groceries and other household essentials in some areas of Seattle and Philadelphia, the company said.

• The service, called Amazon Now, allows shoppers in eligible neighborhoods to receive thousands of items in 30 minutes or less.
• Each delivery costs $3.99 for Prime members, or $13.99 for non-Prime customers; orders below $15 are subject to a fee of $1.99.
• Amazon is using smaller facilities that are closer to where shoppers live and work to “[prioritize] the safety of employees,” reduce travel distances, and speed up delivery.

Zoom out: While Amazon continues to invest in its brick-and-mortar grocery business, enhancing its ecommerce initiatives appears to be taking precedence. Of the grocery formats the retailer is experimenting with—including attaching micro-fulfillment centers to Whole Foods stores to vastly increase the array of brands and products shoppers can buy—it is most excited about offering perishable groceries alongside same-day deliveries, CEO Andy Jassy said.

• By the end of 2025, Amazon customers in 2,300 towns and cities will be able to have fresh groceries delivered to their homes in as little as 5 hours.
• Since launching that service in January, Amazon has found that shoppers who use it visit twice as often as customers who purchase nonperishable items.

The big picture: Speeding up delivery could help Amazon extend its foothold in grocery while keeping shoppers wedded to its platform.

• Excluding Whole Foods and Fresh, Amazon generated over $100 billion in gross merchandising sales from grocery in the past 12 months, according to Jassy, which would make it one of the top three grocery players in the US.