Amazon "bends" to cooperate with small street stores, and Walmart also wants to get involved

According to insiders, the project is currently underway in 23 states across the United States and will involve a range of small and medium-sized businesses, including clothing stores, florists and pubs.

In an interview with the news media, Amazon Vice President Beryl Thomas said the program will help create more opportunities for partners interested in developing related businesses and increase their revenue.

Beryl noted that these small and medium-sized enterprises do not need to have delivery experience to participate in the program, which is called Amazon Central Warehouse and targets major cities such as Boston, Seattle, Los Angeles and New York.

According to people familiar with the matter, the way the plan works is that drivers from Amazon's delivery service network will deliver packages to local small and medium-sized stores, which must have a safe place to store the packages.

In addition, the plan will require merchants to deliver an average of 30 packages per day seven days a week except holidays . Amazon's current plan is to recruit 2,500 local drivers by the end of the year.

Some speculate that the plan will be officially launched in the second half of this year. In fact, not only Amazon, but also its competitor Walmart is emphasizing the need to expand the last-mile delivery network.

In January, Walmart announced it would expand its private fleet program, launched in 2022, to bolster delivery capabilities for its growing e-commerce business.

Many in the industry agree that efficient last-mile delivery — bridging the distance from distribution centers and warehouses to shoppers’ homes — is critical for retailers because it helps solidify consumers’ loyalty and willingness to continue buying.

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