• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, April 5, 2016

Most on-site search engines now enable customers to enter a few choice keywords in the search box to return the perfect answer. Others like Alexa, Amazon Echo's personal assistant, will find and ship the item from a verbal command.

While it has become much easier to find the perfect "pink dress" or "gray pants" and make a purchase online, a week-long delay in getting those items may be the biggest disappointment, especially if the consumer isn't willing to pay for shipping when they can drive five miles to pick up the items at the nearby store. 

Amazon this week said that it is moving its Prime Now one-to-two hour delivery service to the Web, which it previously only offered through a mobile app. Putting Prime Now on the Web places the service in front of more customers, which becomes available in May.

About three-quarters of the more than $96 billion in e-commerce transactions in the U.S. will come from "other sources" than mobile devices in 2016, according to eMarketer February 2016 stats. The research firm estimates that $384.79 billion in U.S. ecommerce sales this year, up to $590.43 billion in 2020.

Amazon will reportedly sell advertising to brands around the launch on its Web site. The premium "Launch Hero Package" ad placement will cost about $500,000 for two weeks of placement. The price includes e-mail promotions sent to Amazon customers, which the report puts at about $100,000, according to the documents reviewed by Bloomberg.

Expanding the service to Amazon's Web site will likely win over more consumers, but the real advancement will come when it offers the service from retail sties like Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's or Kohls. The same-day delivery service would compete with services like Google Express.

Amazon debuted its Prime Now service, only available to Prime members who pay an annual $99 member free, in New York City two years ago. It now offers delivery in more than two dozen cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Diego. The service is free for delivery within a two-hour window, although customers can pay $7.99 per order if they want delivery within an hour.