• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechAmazon Prime

Is Amazon Prime Too White?

By
Hilary Brueck
Hilary Brueck
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Hilary Brueck
Hilary Brueck
Down Arrow Button Icon
April 22, 2016, 9:16 AM ET
Photograph by Rick Wilking — Reuters

Amazon Prime’s same-day delivery service, a limited menu of items that can be delivered to your doorstep in hours, isn’t available everywhere.

The e-commerce giant touts the growing lightning-quick service in areas of 27 cities around the country, where Prime customers can get same-day delivery on over a million products, with free shipping on orders over $35.

But a new Bloomberg investigation finds that the company is trotting out a lot more of those special same-day orders to predominantly white neighborhoods in the major cities it serves, and leaving more majority black ZIP codes out of the loop. Household incomes in some of those ignored neighborhoods are as high or higher than zip codes that Amazon does cover, Bloomberg adds.

Amazon’s cagey on the details of how exactly it decides where to divvy up same-day service and when, but the company says that with time, its service areas in all big cities will grow.

“There are a number of factors that go into determining where we can deliver same-day,” Amazon wrote in a statement to Fortune. “Those include distance to the nearest fulfillment center, local demand in an area, numbers of Prime members in an area, as well as the ability of our various carrier partners to deliver up to 9:00 pm every single day, even Sunday.”

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter

Bloomberg notes in some major cities that leaves black residents about half as likely as white ones to be eligible for the service. The predominantly black Roxbury neighborhood in central Boston, for example, is left out of Amazon Prime’s same-day coverage even though it is bordered on all sides by same-day-delivery zones, the report says. Similar examples arise in cities across the country, including New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C.

Amazon’s Prime service launched over 10 years ago, and the tool helps the company retain a loyal following of customers reigning in perks like free and fast shipping, streaming music videos, e-books, and cloud storage. But Prime’s also been a perennial money-drain for the company, costing Amazon billions to maintain.

For more on Amazon, watch:

Amazon’s same-day service, which launched about a year ago, can’t go through the U.S. postal system, so the company has to employ a mix of its own drivers and local couriers to get the rapid-delivery packages out.

Amazon doesn’t disclose hard numbers, but it’s estimated that about 54 million people in the U.S. are Prime members, whether they have that same-day delivery option or not.

 

Update Apr 22, 2016 1:33 pm E.T.: This story has been updated with a statement from Amazon.

About the Author
By Hilary Brueck
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map

Latest in Tech

Kiara Nirghin, the co-founder and CTO of the applied AI lab Chima
AIBrainstorm AI
Gen Z founder on ‘AI anxiety’ and being pigeonholed as generation shortcut: that’s the ‘biggest misconception’
By Nick LichtenbergDecember 25, 2025
1 hour ago
Panos Panay, Senior Vice President, Devices and Services, Amazon
AIBrainstorm AI
Amazon’s Alexa chief predicts an end to doom scrolling: the next generation is ‘going to just think differently’
By Nick LichtenbergDecember 25, 2025
2 hours ago
Prakhar Mehrotra smiles as he sits in a yellow chair onstage with "Fortune" on the background screen.
AIFintech
The real AI revolution is going from the information era to the ‘intelligence era,’ Paypal senior VP says. That means your focus should be tokens
By Sasha RogelbergDecember 25, 2025
4 hours ago
InvestingFinance
Goldman Sachs expects layoffs to keep rising—and says investors are punishing the stocks of companies that slash staff
By Lee CliffordDecember 25, 2025
5 hours ago
AIBrainstorm AI
Cursor CEO warns vibe coding builds ‘shaky foundations’ and eventually ‘things start to crumble’
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezDecember 25, 2025
6 hours ago
Big TechTesla
Tesla faces NHTSA probe over Model 3 emergency door handles
By Dana Hull and BloombergDecember 24, 2025
20 hours ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Personal Finance
Trump turns government into giant debt collector with threat to garnish wages on millions of Americans in default on student loans
By Annie Ma and The Associated PressDecember 24, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Retail
Trump just declared Christmas Eve a national holiday. Here’s what’s open and closed
By Dave SmithDecember 24, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Chinese billionaire who has fathered more than 100 children hopes to have dozens of U.S.-born boys to one day take over his business
By Emma BurleighDecember 25, 2025
3 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
Obama's former top economic advisor says he feels 'a tiny bit bad' for Trump because gas prices are low, but consumer confidence is still plummeting 
By Sasha RogelbergDecember 24, 2025
22 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Billionaire philanthropy's growing divide: Mark Zuckerberg stops funding immigration reform as MacKenzie Scott doubles down on DEI
By Ashley LutzDecember 22, 2025
3 days ago
placeholder alt text
Personal Finance
Financial experts warn future winner of the $1.7 billion Powerball: Don't make these common money mistakes
By Ashley LutzDecember 23, 2025
2 days ago

© 2025 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.