Dive Brief:

• Amazon is opening up its Home Services network to 20 more U.S. metropolitan areas, touting the expansion, which includes services like house cleaning, home repair and yard work, as a boon to consumers getting ready for the holidays, according to a company press release.

• Customers can access assembly or installation services for products they purchase, and the service can be added during the checkout process. Home Services are backed by Amazon’s Happiness Guarantee and customers are privy to reviews of the professionals and their services.

• The services will now be available in the following cities: Santa Rosa, CA; Ventura County, CA; Boulder, CO; Greater Bridgeport, CT; New Haven, CT; Brevard County, FL; Cape Coral, FL; Sarasota, FL; Indianapolis; Ann Arbor, MI; Raleigh, NC; Trenton, NJ; Las Vegas; Cleveland; Allentown, PA; Lehigh Valley, PA; San Antonio, TX; Milwaukee; Richmond, VA and Hampton Roads VA/NC.

Dive Insight:

To compete with the likes of Angie’s List and Yelp, Amazon launched its Home Services unit in four metro markets just last year, and quickly expanded to 30 cities by this past March. 

Amazon’s Home Services is another classic example of how the online retail giant hasn't limited itself to retail and is willing to launch and quickly expand efforts in any consumer segment that the company believes it has the potential to disrupt. Amazon estimated in March that the on-demand market for home services was between $400 billion and $800 billion. To meet such demand in the space, the company has added more than 500 new services, bringing the total to 1,200. 

"They are uncovering ways of making the purchase of almost any product easier and more cost effective than shopping in a traditional store," Robert W. Baird & Co. analyst Colin Sebastian told Bloomberg earlier this year. "The barriers between consumers making large appliance and home purchases online are falling quickly, and the home-services integration with Amazon is a great example of that."

The company says the expansion of home services is boosting sales, and the most popular services requested are mounting flat-screen televisions to walls and assembling treadmills, according to an Amazon spokeswoman. The growth of Amazon Home Services means that rival retailers like Home Depot and Best Buy must continue to offer similar customer services in order to keep pace. Amazon’s expansion could pose even more problems for competitors as more consumers realize that Amazon offers such services, especially considering its reputation for great customer service. 

This story is part of our ongoing coverage of the 2016 holiday shopping season. You can browse our holiday page for more stories.