Amazon Home Services Expands To 11 New Cities

Need to fix a showerhead?

Amazon said Home Services has been received well by consumers, with an average rating of average 4.71 out of 5 stars for services bought through Amazon. These are: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Miami, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Jose and Washington D.C. At launch, the service was available in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. Customers can select a variety of services such as plumbing and TV installation and see recommended local contractors and pricing.

“Additionally, Amazon Home Services now offers two ways for customers to shop: custom and pre-packaged services”, they said.

The Seattle-based company has grown to become the leading e-commerce company in the world by revenue, but it’s typically known for selling goods, not services.

Earlier this year, Amazon announced Amazon Home Services, which lets customers browse, buy, and schedule appointments with professional services via a marketplace of services in categories like home improvement, computer & electronics, lawn & garden, lessons, automotive, and others. The company has observed that people generally spend more money on services like taxi, couriers, and house cleaning, as compared to products. “Our plan is to add more services and locations”, said Lathia. Lathia said the home services site was predominantly used by members of Amazon Prime, the online retailer’s premium membership service.

With the Home Services, Amazon plays the role of a middleman that links contractors and customers together, and for its own benefit, the company takes about 10-20% cut from every sale made.

The program has been growing over the past few months, with the number of new applications from service professionals increasing by a factor of four over the last three months. Now customers will also be able to request referrals for specialized and more complex projects such as installing air conditioning, Amazon said.