“Amazon Flex” launches in Seattle

Amazon has launched its new “Amazon Flex” programme, which invites members of the public to sign up as independent contractors delivering Amazon Prime Now orders. The Amazon Flex service is available now in Seattle, and the company says that “it will be available soon in New York, Baltimore, Miami, Dallas, Austin, Chicago, Indianapolis, Atlanta and Portland”.

There was considerable speculation that Amazon was set to make this move into “crowdsourcing” when it started to roll out the Prime Now service in Seattle in August.

As Post and Parcel reported on 20 August, local journalists working for Geekwire spotted “Amazon Flex” signs at the company’s Kirkland facility, and the wording on the signage suggested that the company was gearing up to manage crowdsourced delivery drivers.