Contractors running for the Amazon Inc. Flex program load programs into automobiles to ship to consumers in San Francisco.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Photographs
Amazon is popping to its legions of shriveled Flex drivers to ship programs from mall-based shops, permitting dealers to send merchandise from their very own shops the usage of the e-commerce massive’s supply provider
Amazon has been notifying some Flex drivers in fresh months that it is trying out a brand new program the place employees fetch programs from shops of their space and drop them off at consumers’ doorsteps, Amazon stated in a understand to drivers that used to be seen by way of CNBC.
“Amazon Flex is trying out a brand new be offering sort close to you,” the attention says. “Retail supply gives will will let you pick out up and ship pre-packaged orders immediately from non-Amazon retail shops in collaborating native buying groceries facilities.”
The awareness used to be despatched to drivers in Las Vegas and most effective comprises orders positioned at shops in Model Display Mall, a 2-million-square-foot buying groceries mall positioned at the Las Vegas Strip. It is unclear what shops are collaborating within the take a look at.
Amazon may be trying out the provider in Chandler, Arizona, and Tysons Nook, Virginia, in step with Bloomberg, which first reported at the program. The corporate additionally seems to be trialing this system in Friendswood, Texas, a town positioned southeast of Houston, in step with a publish on a well-liked Reddit staff for Flex drivers.
Kate Kudrna, an Amazon spokesperson, stated a handful of “current Amazon dealers” are collaborating in this system, and that Flex drivers function as standard, however pick out up orders from retail shops, reasonably than Amazon supply stations or supermarkets.
“We have now been handing over from third-party shops for years,” Kudrna stated in a observation. “That is differently we’re in a position to glue Amazon dealers with consumers by means of handy supply choices.”
Amazon Flex, introduced in 2015, is an element of the corporate’s fast-growing in-house logistics arm. This system makes use of on a regular basis drivers to ship programs from their very own automobiles and operates in over 50 towns. They earn between $18 and $25 an hour, relying on the kind of shift, and are accountable for prices like fuel, tolls and automotive repairs.
Amazon has made logistics a significant center of attention because it seeks to travel programs to consumers’ doorsteps at sooner speeds. In 2019, prior to the coronavirus pandemic upended its achievement and supply operations, Amazon stated it could spend $800 million over a three-month length to increase one-day transport within the U.S.
Just lately, the corporate spread out its huge transport and achievement community to different shops, permitting them to practice High advantages to orders puts on their very own websites.
Amazon is not the one corporate providing speedy supply to shops. On-demand supply suppliers like DoorDash, Uber’s Postmates and Instacart have expanded past meals and grocery to provide different merchandise from native and nationwide shops.
WATCH: As High One Day transport expands, here is what it is love to be an Amazon Flex supply motive force