Once again Amazon is working to expand its own delivery capabilities, inviting entrepreneurs to launch new companies with fleets of 20-40 vans emblazoned with the company’s ubiquitous logo, even offering discounted lease rates it has negotiated, the company announced.
If President Trump had his way and the U.S. Postal Service charged more for parcel delivery, the move would not only hurt the USPS’s parcel business but cause a ripple effect, according to a report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF).
A year after a quiet introduction, Amazon is expanding Hub by Amazon, secure keypad-access lockers in high-rise and garden apartments that allow shoppers to grab packages at their convenience. Interestingly, the service is available to other shippers as well as Amazon itself.
A new study of shoppers ages 14-24 by Fluent Commerce found that young shoppers weren’t as eager for fulfillment immediacy as you’d think in the age of Amazon Prime and guaranteed two-day delivery, with most digital natives still good with hitting the stores. See what else matters to the next wave of consumers.
Tokyo-based marketplace and logistics supplier Rakuten has acquired Curbside, a startup with $50 million in funding that powers same-day store and restaurant pickup of online orders, for an undisclosed amount. See what this deal means for the retail and restaurant customers of Curbside.
Jetblack, Walmart’s new invite-only, personalized shopping service aimed at busy moms in Manhattan and Brooklyn, allows members to get same-day orders fulfilled by texting them in, at $50 a month. It’s the latest example of the beast of Bentonville seeking to go upmarket and out-innovate main rival Amazon.
Ten public-private drone test projects have been approved by the Department of Transportation for various applications, including home deliveries, but Amazon was conspicuous by its absence from the group despite its high-profile Prime Air program.
UPS is considering the possibility of a two-tier wage structure that would allow lower-paid drivers to make Sunday deliveries, which the U.S. Post Office has been doing primarily for Amazon since November 2013.
UPS is considering a move into the fast-growth white glove delivery market through a trucking partnership, which would enable it to handle larger, bulky items like furniture, appliances and home entertainment that often require special handling and some in-home installation.
Building off its Amazon Key offering last fall that lets couriers open smart locks and enter homes to drop off orders, Amazon is now enabling deliveries to the trunks of late-model GM and Volvo vehicles, the company announced.