U.S. Postal Service May Begin Grocery Delivery

New plan would expand successful AmazonFresh pilot program in San Francisco to more cities.

September 29, 2014

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Postal Service wants to deliver more than just the mail. The Washington Post reports that the agency is seeking regulatory approval from the Postal Regulatory Commission to begin testing home delivery of “groceries and other prepackaged goods” following a successful 60-day trial in San Francisco with Amazon.com’s AmazonFresh delivery service.

Under the plan, USPS would work with retail partners to make home deliveries between 3 and 7 am. Participating grocery stores would have to drop off their orders at post offices between 1:30 and 2:30 am.

“Ultimately, the Postal Service expects this will generate more package deliveries that do not currently move within the postal system,” the agency said in its proposal. “Grocery deliveries are expanding across the nation, with several different types of companies beginning to offer this service in recent months.”

The Washington Post notes that USPS has not specified its delivery prices or the cities and retailers that will be participating in the program. During its San Francisco test with AmazonFresh, USPS averaged 160 deliveries per day in 38 Zip codes.

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