Bloomberg reports that Amazon is testing a service in which its Flex drivers are hired to pick up and deliver parcels from shopping centers. According to Bloomberg, Amazon has been conducting the initiative since last year, and it has the potential to assist the company in fulfilling orders for same-day or two-day delivery.
Amazon spokeswoman Lauren Samaha stated in an emailed statement to The Verge that “This is just another way we are able to connect Amazon sellers with customers via convenient delivery options,” Samaha also said that just a small number of retailers are taking part in the scheme, but she did not name any of the specific retailers.
It isn’t quite obvious where Amazon is doing the test though, which is another mystery. Drivers who participated in the program and talked with Bloomberg about it mentioned picking up parcels from shopping centers in Chandler, Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Tysons Corner, Virginia.
Amazon’s Flex delivery drivers do deliveries using their cars, much as the drivers for Instacart and DoorDash. They normally collect their parcels from one of Amazon’s delivery stations; but, there is also the option to collect their shipments from local retailers, which Samaha claims have been accessible for many years. Mall deliveries will operate in the same manner, with the exception that delivery drivers will now collect parcels from retailers located inside the respective shopping malls.
At the beginning of this month, Vox published an article stating that Amazon has been secretly testing a delivery service that uses local mom-and-pop stores in more remote areas to deliver products on behalf of the firm. Packages are delivered to the local companies 360 days a year, and employees are entrusted with distributing them within a 10-mile radius. In this manner, the local businesses take on the role of something similar to the post office. Amazon used to rely on the United States Postal Service and UPS for the final leg of deliveries, which is when packages reached the doorsteps of customers. However, if Amazon gave local stores the job of delivering packages, the company might not need to involve either of those services as much.
The retailing behemoth is making moves to expand its dominance to include other shipping services offered by third-party companies. Amazon began allowing third-party retailers that currently store their products in Amazon’s warehouses to add “Buy With Prime” buttons to their websites in April. Customers can take advantage of Prime delivery while making purchases from retailers other than Amazon, which brings even more business to Amazon’s rapidly expanding fulfillment sector.