With the way Amazon is stretching itself to cover the US with Same-Day Delivery, you wouldn’t consider that they may be an area that the retailer wouldn’t service. Some cities that are not in close proximity in distance to major ones, you would understand why the service isn’t being offered there. Yet, there is one city that Prime subscribers are very inquisitive regarding why same-day delivery isn’t in their town.
The Boston Globe reported how Amazon is offers same-day delivery in every Boston neighborhood except Roxbury. One of the findings by Bloomberg compared US census data showing that minority neighborhoods in several cities have not been included to offer same-day delivery there. It stated that Roxbury is 59% African-American and is the “most striking gap” found from the data. Amazon’s service stretches from Boston city limits to many suburbs and nearby communities, but not Roxbury.
The article mentioned that Amazon told Bloomberg that Roxbury’s circumstance is “an anomaly”. There are no demographics that play a role in deciding where it delivers same-day. In fact, Amazon gave Mattapan as a example, which is 85% African-American, as well as nearby majority-minority communities like Lawrence and Chelsea. This means there could be other factors weighing in on Amazon city selections.
“Yet in cities where most of those paying members are concentrated in predominantly white parts of town, a solely data-driven calculation that looks at numbers instead of people can reinforce long-entrenched inequality in access to retail services,” said the Bloomberg writers. Amazon spokesman Scott Stanzel said in a statement, “We will continue expanding our delivery capabilities and are adding more zip codes rapidly”. Either way, it appears Roxbury Prime members want same-day delivery, and we will see if the city is added.
One of Amazon’s big electronic competitors, Best Buy, recently made headlines by announcing it will be expanding its’ current same-day delivery testing into 13 major metropolitan markets throughout the US. Last year, Best Buy rolled out testing in San Francisco and its’ surrounding areas, in addition to Washington DC and New York. Best Buy is the leader in consumer electronics, but the move to engage in same-day services is being driven in part due to Amazon. With so much access by customers for convenience, as well as a dependable e-retailer like Amazon, it is clear that Best Buy had to meet customer demand and provide a fast delivery option as well.
Online retail is projected to reach $500 billion by 2018, as well as same-day delivery to climb to $987 million by 2019. It makes sense why Amazon is moving at such as fast pace with same-day delivery and its’ competitors will have to get on board with the trendy service option, or get left behind.. A Same-Day Courier like 1-800 Courier is who retailers like Amazon, Best Buy and others are partnering with to implement a same-day delivery program that meets their online needs. The Boston Courier has the ability to provide nationwide coverage, which large businesses are looking for.
Reference: 4.22.16, www.boston.com, Trefis Team, Adam Vaccaro and Allison Pohle, Amazon offers same-day delivery to every Boston neighborhood, except Roxbury
