Amazon reportedly looking at “crowdsourcing” for parcels delivery
Online retailer Amazon is looking at the feasibility of adding “crowdsourcing” to its mix of parcel delivery options, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. An article published in the WSJ yesterday (16 June) said that the paper had been informed by “people familiar with the matter” that Amazon is developing a mobile app, with the working title “On My Way”, that “would, in some cases, pay ordinary people, rather than carriers… to drop off packages en route to other destinations”.
The WSJ added that “an Amazon spokeswoman declined to comment”, and Post&Parcel has also received no official confirmation of the plan. However, Amazon has shown that it is prepared to be flexible about its parcel delivery options and this particular model – where people making a journey for their own reasons will give a “lift” to a package – is already being used by a number of companies, including Roadie in the US and Nimber in Scandinavia and the UK.
Staying on the “crowdsourcing” theme, the WSJ added that unnamed but well-informed sources also reported that Amazon has put plans for an on-demand taxi service on hold.
