Amazon is weighing more than 1,000 same-day sites by 2031, a costly bid to narrow Walmart’s built-in edge near American homes.
The Daily Mail reported that Amazon is considering a dramatic expansion from roughly 85 same-day fulfillment locations to more than 1,000 across the United States.
The proposal would challenge Walmart where it has a clear advantage: proximity. Walmart or Sam’s Club sits within 10 miles of 90 percent of U.S. households.
Walmart also says its stores can deliver orders to 95 percent of U.S. households in under three hours. Amazon’s plan seeks to shrink that distance gap through smaller facilities built around fast-moving products.
Internal Amazon planning documents reviewed by Business Insider call the effort Project Mercury. The proposed network would put same-day centers within 10 straight-line miles of 80 percent of U.S. Prime subscribers by 2031.
Amazon spokesman Steve Kelly cautioned that the projections were “preliminary, subject to significant revision, and shouldn't be treated as finalized plans.”
The proposed facilities would use a system called Orbital and cover roughly 100,000 square feet. Each location would hold about 90,000 of Amazon’s most frequently purchased products.
That is the heart of Amazon’s answer to Walmart. Rather than rely only on larger facilities farther from customers, Amazon would place a tighter selection of popular goods closer to where Prime subscribers live.
Each proposed site is expected to process about 75,000 same-day and perishable units daily. Amazon estimates each facility would require about $48.4 million in capital spending.
At that price, the company would need more than speed. It would need careful site selection, dependable demand and tight control over operating costs.
The internal forecasts project that the new facilities could handle 28 percent of Amazon-fulfilled volume by 2029. That share could reach 50 percent by 2035.
By 2029, about 94 percent of packages passing through dedicated same-day buildings are forecast to arrive within five hours. That target goes directly at Walmart’s promise of delivery from stores in under three hours.
Amazon’s three-year operating plan budgeted $6.8 billion for U.S. same-day fulfillment capacity during 2026 and 2027. Udit Madan, the senior vice president overseeing worldwide operations, was involved in the planning.
The company’s finance team also reviewed Project Mercury’s economics. Internal projections estimate that a denser same-day network could produce $7.1 billion in economic value over 10 years.
The network is projected to become cash-flow positive by 2030. That would come one year before Amazon’s target of more than 1,000 locations.
Those figures carry weight, but they remain forecasts. Amazon has not identified the proposed locations, how many sites each state might receive or whether the full plan has final approval.
The internal documents themselves were not publicly provided with the reporting. Their names, dates and issuing offices also remain unclear.
That makes Kelly’s warning more than routine caution. A plan of this size can change as costs, demand and construction decisions become clearer.
Kelly said Amazon remains committed to the broader goal:
“We continue to invest in fast delivery speed and convenience alongside wide selection and everyday low prices.”
Walmart’s advantage comes from a network already close to most Americans. Amazon is trying to reproduce that reach with buildings designed specifically for rapid online orders.
The contest reaches beyond household basics. Amazon estimates that its grocery business produces about $150 billion in annual gross sales, though that figure includes nonperishable goods outside traditional grocery categories.
Groceries and everyday essentials reward proximity because customers often need them quickly. Amazon’s documents frame distance as a disadvantage for urgent purchases, and Project Mercury is meant to reduce it.
Amazon is also testing other fast-delivery models. Those efforts include Amazon Now, while Prime Air is being developed around delivery times as short as 30 minutes.
Kelly said Amazon’s existing same-day delivery network already serves more than 10,000 cities and towns, including rural communities. Project Mercury would deepen that reach by adding far more fulfillment points.
Still, serving a community does not mean matching a Walmart store’s local position. Amazon’s proposal recognizes that delivery speed depends heavily on how close the product sits to the customer.
Amazon’s proposal is ambitious because Walmart’s physical reach cannot be erased by a press release or an internal forecast. Building more than 1,000 facilities would demand billions in spending and years of steady execution.
But the competition itself is healthy. Amazon wants to overcome Walmart’s local edge, while Walmart must defend the convenience its stores already provide.
The winning company will not be the one with the grandest projection. It will be the one that delivers everyday goods faster without making customers pay for waste.