Amazon promises to fill gaps in its Prime same-day delivery service in response to complaints that it failed to offer the service to minority neighborhoods.
"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 pledged in a statement received by the Congressional Black Caucus.
The caucus, which represents black members of the Congress, has earlier warned Amazon that it will pressure the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to launch an investigation if the company fails to address the service gap complaints.
"We will further not launch the service in any new regions, until we are able to secure a carrier for every zip code," Amazon said. In addition, the company said that it is still determining the detailed plan and warehouse-to-the-home delivery for each of the affected areas. Amazon also promised full and complete coverage in the near future.
In April, Bloomberg released an analysis investigating racial gaps that occur in poor neighborhoods where Amazon Prime service was supposed to be available. Certain zip codes in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, New York and Washington, D.C., where residents are mostly black or other minorities, fail to receive same-day shipping.
U.S. Rep. George Butterfield (D-N.C.), the chairman of the black caucus, indicated that they are awaiting Amazon's plan to expand delivery services to excluded zip codes and the results of the plan's implementation. An FTC investigation was also requested by Congressman Bobby Rush from Illinois.
In response, Amazon pledged to serve South Side Chicago in the coming weeks and work with carriers to expand delivery services to all zip codes in same-day-delivery cities. Included in the list of pledged cities is New York City and Boston, which also have published complaints of lack of service for minority communities.
Amazon's same-day delivery service was rolled out in 2015 in select cities as part of the $99 per year Amazon Prime subscription service. Initial same-day delivery service maps were drawn depending on the concentration of prime subscribers in individual communities and delivery partners willing to service the area. According to Amazon, race had no role in the exclusion of these communities.
