Posted on 11/22/2017 4:08:16 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
The holiday season will be a busy one for Amazon, and as 2017 draw to a close, it could be said this entire year has been a big one for the e-commerce giant, from its acquisition of Whole Foods to the HQ2 race and its expansion in its hometown, Seattle. But behind the company’s growth and expansion, and future plans, lies an immense, intricate logistics network that enables it to offer incredible delivery times to every corner of the country.
The company’s footprint is pretty wild. According to Amazon, the company now operates more than 75 fulfillment centers and 25 sortation centers across North America, which it leases, and employs 125,000 full-time hourly associates in the U.S. During the holiday season, the company will hire an additional 120,000 workers across its logistics and warehouse network.
As holiday shopping hits a frenzied peak this month, that system will be tested. Online holiday spending will top $129 billion in 2017, according to Forrester Research Inc., up 12 percent from 2016. Not surprisingly, Amazon has already gotten a jump on it, offering Black Friday deals a week early this year. Here are some incredible facts—and numbers—behind Amazon’s extensive and expanding logistics network.
1. Amazon is helping industrial real estate blow up.
Warehouses and fulfillment centers weren’t really considered sexy investments. But with the rise of Amazon, as well as the desire for more data centers, suddenly big, boxy buildings are in.
The Urban Land Institute’s Emerging Trends Report for 2018 listed fulfillment centers and warehouses as their top two picks for sectors with investment potential. With e-tailers making million-square-foot warehouses commonplace, industrial real estate has been “on a roll,” according to a recent Cushman and Wakefield Industrial Market Beat analysis.
Vacancies are down year over year (well below the historical average), new construction is up, and prices for warehouse real estate have risen at a steady clip since 2012. Warehouses are literally getting bigger, with industry-standard 24-foot-tall structures making way for 34-foot-high buildings tailored to e-commerce.
2. During the holiday rush, some Amazon warehouses ship more than 1 million items a day.
3. Some of these fulfillment centers are massive.
In what can be seen as a metaphor for modern retail, Amazon announced plans earlier this year to transform the former site of the Randall Park Mall in northeast Ohio into a fulfillment center. When finished, the refurbished center will cover 855,000 square feet. And that’s still not the largest; one in Schertz, Texas, covers 1,264,200 square feet. In total, the company’s warehouses cover more than 77 million square feet.
4. One of these fulfillment centers is likely very close
According to Cooper Smith, an analyst at L2 Inc., a New York-based business-intelligence firm, Amazon “now has warehouses within 20 miles of half the U.S. population.”
5. Amazon accounts for 5 to 10 percent of UPS revenue.
6. Amazon is testing out its own delivery service
With such a huge network, and a constant drive to improve performance and cut delivery time, it was perhaps inevitable Amazon would enter the transportation and delivery markets.
Last year, it unveiled its first branded cargo plane. According to Bloomberg, the company has been testing a program called Seller Flex that would see Amazon oversee delivery of goods from third-party sellers to its customers. The report says the system has been tested in India and the West Coast, and will be rolled out to more markets in 2018.
7. Amazon is the biggest corporate purchaser of renewable power
When Jeff Bezos posted a video of his christening of a new windmill on Twitter, it led many to comment on how the vest-wearing CEO had suddenly become ripped. But, jokes aside, it did showcase the company’s considerable investment in renewable power.
Amazon now claims that it’s the leading corporate purchaser of renewable energy in the United States, splitting that between its warehouse network and cloud data services. The company has finished or begun construction on wind and solar facilities that will produce 3.6 million megawatt hours (MWh) of renewable energy annually. By the end of the year, 15 fulfillment centers will be topped with solar installations, and the company aims to add solar power to 50 of them by the end of 2020. Last fall, Amazon announced the construction of a Texas wind farm with 100 turbines that will generate enough electricity to power 90,000 homes a year.
8. Amazon is creeping up on capturing half of all online retail spend.
The company continues to get closer to this milestone. According to a Slice Intelligence report cited in the Wall Street Journal, Amazon captured 42 cents of every dollar spent online in 2017, up from 38 cents last year. According to Piper Jaffray, Amazon is expected to sell 12.6 billion items in 2020.
9. A typical Amazon delivery requires just one minute of human labor.
Full time hourly associates? Not ‘employees’?
Worst thing is if they build a fulfillment center in your state you then pay sales tax. Happened in Wisconsin when they built in Kenosha, WI.
Sounds like they are establishing a wide spread of posts to take over the country! Soon they will be using black helicopters to deliver their goods.
“Amazon is testing out its own delivery service”
—
Ran into their delivery guys a couple times in my complex.
I believe Amazon has a service where you can give them a “key” so the delivery person can enter your residence to leave a package if you’re not home. (I’ll take a pass on that!)
My very first real job was at a grocery warehouse (Acme Markets in Phila.). That place was the the largest warehouse in the US when it was built... 1.4 million sq ft.
I have fond memories of working there and my first boss, but I eventually had to move on (to corporate HQ).
Half of the stuff I have ordered via Prime has had ‘delayed shipping’ for up to a week.
Before I signed up for Prime, my orders via Amazon took 2 to 6 weeks to arrive.
I do not order much. I have Prime mainly for the streaming. Even that can be messed up. They will offer a new-to-Prime movie or TV series. Then, in a few weeks they move it to non-prime. On TV series, some have one or two seasons available through Prime, but additional seasons require purchase or rental.
SKYNET Precursor?
Drones will become self-aware.
But, will they make me a sammich?
It sure does. They built a center outside of Columbus,. Columbus got the jobs, we got the bill. Pretty much par for the course in this state.
They do a pretty good job for me. I don’t wait too long for most things.
Being located where I am I get most Prime stuff in less than two days. Some stuff I get the very next day. Their is a fulfilment center Downtown and I can get lots of stuff the very same day or very next day if I want to go get it, but have only dropped off returns there.
I don’t like Bezos’ politics, but Amazon.com is a well run company.
I have also had good success with Jet.com. They are a direct competitor. They are in New Jersey and Walmart just bought them this year. They have a good selection and are pretty competitive. For electronics, particularly TV’s Walmart.com is the place. Hands down best prices.
It’s trendy to call employees anything but employees.
Associates, team members, staff, etc.
An example of ‘cartel socialism’ They spend money to buy politicians - get all sorts of government kickbacks - no normal business can compete.
I read one estimate that they get $140,000 worth of government tax breaks etc for each employee..
Not anything to do with the old-fashioned ideal of free-enterprise.
And just to get you thinking - socialism is actually a form of capitalism - except you are forced to invest.
Capitalism is where people pool their money to do things they can’t do on their own. Under socialism, you are forced to pool money via taxes..
Under ‘cartel socialism’ they buy political influence so they don’t have to be good at business..
For those who don’t do their own research:
Amazon is in the logistics, database/cloud/internet and bullshit business.
As logisticians and database/cloud/internet providers, they are the pinnacle of achievement in the history of man. Walmart are junior pikers in comparison.
As bullshit artists, they defined the genre.
They are likely to have a 100 year run as the richest company in the world.
I refuse to do business with Amazon Washington Post’s Jeff Bezos.
Jet.com is owned by Walmart. You can pretty much buy anything on Jet as you can Amazon. You can also find most anything on Jet.com as you would find at Walmart or Sams. No shipping charges on orders over $35.
BOYCOTT AMAZON!!! Yeah, I know my little boycott isn’t making a big impact but I won’t be spending my money with them.
“Amazon is testing out its own delivery service”
Their next targets are Fedex and UPS. And they’ll beat them too.
“employees” get benefits that non-employee workers don’t get.
“Before I signed up for Prime, my orders via Amazon took 2 to 6 weeks to arrive.”
I don’t have prime and always use the cheapest shipping option. My stuff has never taken more than a week to get here.
The same lefties that hate Wal-Mart love Amazon even though Amazon doesn’t treat employees that well.
“I read one estimate that they get $140,000 worth of government tax breaks etc for each employee..”
I call bullshit.
Cite and example.
Amazon is the epitome of capitalist enterprise with a commie CEO.
It’s trendy to call employees anything but employees.
Associates, team members, staff, etc.
I thought we were supposed to call them “Workers”?
I hate that term.
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