Women in Foodtech (Amazon) – Stephanie Landry

Photo Credit: The Seattle Times

In spearheading the launch of the superfast Prime Now delivery service, Amazon.com executive Stephenie Landry knew the challenge would be steep.

It was unclear whether customers really wanted a service that delivered their Amazon purchases within one or two hours; no focus groups were held to determine that.

But Landry, a rising star at Amazon who has participated in a series of high-profile projects at the company, including the creation of AmazonFresh grocery deliveries in Seattle nearly a decade ago, was confident they would.

In the mock news release that’s part of every Amazon pitch, the 38-year old native of New York jokingly called the service “Amazon Magic,” a reference to products appearing on the consumer’s doorstep so quickly that it could be deemed an act of wizardry. It was an idea that jibed with what is perhaps the glue that holds together Amazon’s increasingly diverse array of businesses, from cloud computing to diaper deliveries: making things convenient for customers.

“The idea of making deliveries faster is in the DNA of the company,” Landry said in a recent interview.

Prime Now got its initial green light in August 2014. There was little time to lose.

“We really wanted to get it out before the holiday,” Landry said. To make things interesting, her team picked New York City for the launch, a city where traffic-clogged streets can be a deliverer’s nightmare. “We knew it’d be one of the hardest places to break into,” she said. “If you can make it there, you can make it everywhere.”In spearheading the launch of the superfast Prime Now delivery service, Amazon.com executive Stephenie Landry knew the challenge would be steep.

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