Amazon plans to launch a two-hour delivery service in Berlin, Germany, from May onwards and to open a new fulfillment centre near Kansas City, USA, which will create 1,000 full-time jobs.
According to the German newspaper Die Welt, Amazon could start its express delivery service “Prime Now”, available in various cities in the USA and in the UK, in Germany soon.
Local transport companies in Berlin have confirmed to Die Welt that Amazon is now reconstructing a site on Berlin’s famous avenue Kurfuerstendamm to a warehouse for more than 10,000 articles from Amazon’s product range.
With effect from May, local courier firms would take over deliveries on behalf of Amazon in the German capital six days a week in two shifts, Die Welt reported. Deliveries would be made to a home or workplace address with the service targeting Prime Now customers who have already paid the annual delivery fee.
Amazon didn’t confirm the plans but didn’t deny them either. “We have nothing to announce on this topic at the moment,” an Amazon spokesman told Die Welt.
Until now, Deutsche Post DHL has delivered most of the parcels on behalf of Amazon. The new delivery service thus represents a potential threat and could lead to revenue losses for the postal operator.
In the USA, Amazon has announced plans to open a major state-of-the-art fulfillment centre in Edgerton, Kansas, which will create around 1,000 full-time jobs.
Amazon employees at the 74,322 sqm facility will pick, pack and ship large items to customers such as big-screen televisions, sports equipment or kayaks, for example.
“We’re excited to bring 1,000 great full-time jobs with benefits to the Kansas City region and proud to further invest in the state with this new fulfillment centre,” Akash Chauhan, Amazon’s vice president of North American operations, said.
Edgerton Mayor Donald Roberts commented: “Amazon's innovative new facility and quality job creation supports and validates the City's continued efforts of creating global routes with local roots. We look forward to having Amazon as a community partner in Edgerton for years to come.”
In Kansas, Amazon already operates facilities in Lenexa.
Over the last two months, Amazon opened three new pickup locations for parcels at Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Akron and University of Texas at Austin respectively. As part of the separate agreements, Amazon offers the respective campus communities a convenient location to pick up and return Amazon orders, “including virtually everything one needs, from everyday essentials to technology”.
Apart from these latest additions, Amazon has opened staffed pickup locations at the following universities since 2015: Purdue University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Santa Barbara, and University of Cincinnati. This year, the online retailer will open more locations at the University of Pennsylvania and University of California, Davis.
