Seattle, WA – Amazon is once again working on a new project that would speed up delivery by creating an app that would pay regular people to deliver packages to customers, bypassing familiar carriers such as UPS or FedEx.
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Although Amazon has declined to comment on the possible new app, known as “On My Way,” a source states the company would create brick-and-mortar holding facilities for packages in urban areas, reports the Wall Street Journal (http://on.wsj.com/1LdTaQJ).
Amazon ships an average 3.5 million packages a day, and its shipping costs grew 31 percent in 2014, which may be why the company is focusing on gaining more control over shipping options. They endured severe shipping problems during the 2013 holiday season, when many packages didn’t arrive by Christmas day.
Many questions remain to be answered, such as how Amazon will hire and maintain deliverers and who would be responsible for missing packages. The company has already figured out how to utilize space in other retailers – Amazon rents lockers in various 7-Eleven stores and spaces in parking garages where customers can pick up and return packages.
Amazon already uses bike messengers in many large U.S. cities for Prime Now one-hour delivery and uses delivery firms for its Fresh grocery service, which promises same-day delivery. They recently made the news with their development of drones for parcel delivery.
Information taken from The Wall Street Journal