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Amazon says it will close the racial gap in its same-day delivery services

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Rafi Letzter/Tech Insider

Amazon says it will take steps to close the racial gap in its same-day delivery services.

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A Bloomberg analysis in April found that Amazon's same-day delivery service for Prime members was not available in some predominantly black zip codes despite being available in most parts of those cities.

That led to some odd situations, such as the majority-black Boston neighborhood of Roxbury, which was excluded from the service but entirely surrounded by whiter neighborhoods that were included.

Amazon extended service to Roxbury after the Bloomberg report, and now says it will implement a broader program designed to prevent such a disparity from arising in the future.

Bloomberg reports:

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Amazon made the pledge in a statement obtained by the Congressional Black Caucus. The organization, which represents black members of Congress, had alerted Amazon it was monitoring the situation and supported calls for an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission into the service boundaries.

"Very shortly, we will be expanding Prime Same Day Service to every zip code of the 27 cities where Prime Same Day delivery is currently launched," Amazon said in the statement obtained by the caucus and shared with Bloomberg News. "We will further not launch the service in any new regions, until we are able to secure a carrier for every zip code. We are still figuring out the details and procuring last mile delivery for each of these zips, but we should have 100 percent coverage shortly."

In short, this means:

  • Amazon will extend its service to all zip codes in cities that already have same-day delivery.
  • Amazon will not move same-day delivery to a new city until it can serve all zip codes.
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