Nearly two weeks ago, Amazon was criticized when an analysis of its Prime Now two-hour delivery service found the company treated some delivery addresses within a city differently. Critics alleged that Amazon was deliberately excluding predominantly African-American neighborhoods in six major cities from the delivery service. The company has now announced plans to expand into at least some of these ZIP codes.

Amazon will bring free same-day delivery to the Bronx and Chicago’s South Side, Bloomberg reports, seemingly the company’s response to the publication’s release of an analysis that found racial disparities in delivery service in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, New York, and Washington.

The expansions in the Bronx and Chicago come on the heels of Amazon’s decision last week to also bring quick deliveries to the predominantly black Boston neighborhood of Roxbury.

According to the original analysis, Boston had perhaps the most glaring issues with delivery; the service was available in some fairly far-flung ‘burbs but remained conspicuously absent from a concentration of neighborhoods right in the heart of the city.

The disparities between delivery availability within major cities was quick to catch the attention of lawmakers, residents, and nonprofit groups, which called on Amazon to fix the issues.

Days later, Amazon made its announcement about Boston deliveries.

“We are actively working with our local carrier to enable service to the Roxbury neighborhood in the coming weeks,” an Amazon rep said. “Once completed, Prime members in every ZIP code in Boston, including the Roxbury neighborhood, will receive Prime Free Same-Day Delivery.”

Now Bloomberg reports the e-commerce giant is expanding that sentiment to the Bronx and Chicago’s South Side. But like Boston, the service won’t hit underserved neighborhoods right away. Instead, the company says it will roll out the option in “the coming weeks.”

Amazon tells Bloomberg that race played no role in the expansion process, instead the company emphasized that the service was always meant to grow over time.

In addition to announcing it would expand service in the Bronx and Chicago, The Verge reports that Amazon confirmed rumors that it would bring Prime Now to the web. 

The one- and two-hour delivery service had only been available via a smartphone app since it launched two years ago.

The new website operates similarly to the current app version, allowing users to enter their Zip code to see if service is available in their area.

“We have expanded the service rapidly over the last year to new cities and customers told us that they would want the option to shop on a browser as well as mobile,” Stephenie Landry, head of Amazon’s Prime Now service, tells The Verge.

Amazon’s new Prime Now site offers same-day deliveries on web as well as mobile [The Verge]
Amazon to Bring Same-Day Delivery to Bronx, Chicago After Outcry [Bloomberg]

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