For Amazon’s cloud computing services, the company is spending to hire for sales and marketing, the types of work that Jeff Bezos, its founder, long eschewed but that have become necessary as Amazon looks to sign up bigger legacy businesses.

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‘Who needs Cheetos that fast?’

The number of individual products that Amazon sells is a key measure of its retail business, and unit growth had started slowing about two years ago. In April, Amazon announced that it was moving to make one-day shipping the default for its Prime members, a way to lift growth again.

Brian Olsavsky, the company’s finance chief, said the offering had increased sales to Prime customers. “They are buying more often, and they are buying more products,” he said.

Amazon expects to spend about $1.5 billion for one-day delivery during this quarter, which includes the holiday season, Mr. Olsavsky said. That includes costs for faster shipping as well as other expenses, like the lost revenue from customers who used to pay extra to get something in one day.

The one-day offering lets Amazon get a bigger piece of consumers’ wallets on products typically bought at grocery stores or pharmacies. A typical order for items shipped in two days or more is $23.33, and Amazon spends $5.08 to fulfill and ship the items, according to a Morgan Stanley analysis. But for one-day shipping, the typical order is $8.32, and Amazon spends $10.59 to fulfill and ship it, meaning it loses money on many sales.