Amazon likely picked these areas for a handful of characteristics.

Four to be exact: Austin, Texas, Cincinnati, Dallas, and Virginia Beach, Virginia. Like most real-world Amazon expansions, including its brick-and-mortar bookstores, Amazon is kicking off this free delivery endeavor in a limited number of markets. Hopefully drivers will be able to consolidate multiple deliveries into single trips, but even so, that could mean more cars on the road, which could lead to worsened traffic and air quality in our neighborhoods. Instead of a family making one or two grocery runs each week, we’ll have drivers making multiple runs for hundreds, if not thousands, of families in a community each week. When there’s no incentive to consolidate purchases because of a shipping or delivery fee, we may find ourselves ordering smaller grocery loads on a more frequent basis. As opposed to Instacart’s $149 annual membership for “free” two-hour deliveries, Amazon’s Whole Foods delivery service really does feel free-it’s a sunk cost.

Many of us already have a Prime membership-Amazon doesn’t disclose this number but reports suggest Amazon has more than 80 million members as of April 2017-and this could further drive adoption.

While many home grocery services offer same-day delivery, this is an unprecedented level of convenience and affordability that could change consumer behaviors in a similar way that Prime has changed our online-ordering habits.

Grocery delivery amazon prime