Need some hand-knitted gloves in a jiffy? You might be in luck if this trial goes well. This fall, Etsy is going to be pilot testing same-day and next-day delivery services in certain parts of New York City.
Through a partnership with delivery startup Postmates, “Etsy ASAP” will begin offering speedy delivery sometime this fall to customers in Manhattan, parts of Brooklyn and Queens, Re/Code reports. Buyers who use Etsy ASAP will have the option to select a delivery window and track their orders. The express delivery service will cost $US20 bucks.
“We hear from sellers that they get constant requests from buyers for getting stuff really fast,” Calia Talmor, Etsy’s senior product manager for shipping and order management, told Re/code. That’s not terribly surprising, seeing how services like Amazon Prime have spent the last few years training us to expect our electronics almost as fast as our pizzas. Indeed, Etsy ASAP appears to be part of a strategy to compete more directly with Amazon, which will soon be launching its own Etsy-like service, “Handmade at Amazon.”
One way or another, it looks like we’ll soon get to enjoy the same speedy deliveries for silkscreened t-shirts and handmade candles that we do for Kindles and Cards Against Humanity — for a price.
[Re/Code]