Amazon is slipping. The deliveries are always late. The goal of delivering same day or on time is impossible for Bezos, the jerk. He needs to retire and let a new generation run the show. Walmart is much better at logistics and should run the world.
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.
“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.”
Do you find ‘worker’ objectionable?
Steelworker, farm worker, social worker?
When I worked for a staffing company as a human resources rep. at a Foxconn plant I was sometimes sent to another nearby Foxconn plant that had to be over a million square feet. I could never do that walk today. It was designated as some kind of special import/export zone.
“UPS guy said half his loads are Amazon boxes.”
The sooner he gets a job with Amazon, the better off he’ll be.
UPS won’t live long enough to pay his pension.
“Amazon burns through employees like Bill ran through cigars. Interestingly, the turnover accelerates as associates approach vesting.”
Amazon treats every employee that produces, very, very well.
Better than any company in America.
The chaff is removed quickly.
ELAINE: (Gives Jerry a look) Do you know how embarrassing this is to someone in my position?
JERRY: (Confused) What's your position?
ELAINE: I am an associate.
GEORGE: Hey, me too.
(A waitress, passing their table, speaks up) WAITRESS: Yeah, me too.
Amazon Key.
It’s tied to a video system that gives you internet notification that the delivery guy is nearby, lets you watch him make the delivery, and records the entire transaction so you can look at it later. It’s kind of slick technologically, but probably not the ideal choice for those who value their privacy.
When I was a young guy in Thailand, we'd meet hourly females employees in a bar and take them to an hourly motel.
I still have a clear memory of looking at their stock in the early 80’s and asking, “why would anybody buy into a company that’s never turned a profit?” I apparently missed something there.
Their really valuable asset is the logistics chain. The retail business subsidizes the build out of that. Once it’s completed, they’ll have a monopoly on same-day delivery that’ll put a lot of retailers out of business. Walmart has seen this coming and is making an effort to counter it, but much of the big box world hasn’t caught on yet.
I’ve been part of their partnership with the post office for the last couple of years. Six day a week delivery along with my mail, and another post office truck drops off packages on Sunday. One convenience that I appreciate is that I can order stuff on Friday and have it in time for the start of the new work week.
That is bizarre. Why would anyone allow Amazon free entry into their homes? They certainly don’t have my trust. Why would they even come up with such an odd idea.
If I had a storage garage, I might would let them have a key for delivery. Other than that, no way.
Consider that the Pentagon encloses about 1.45 million square feet.
BBB
Lately, I’ve noticed more product reviews complaining about Amazon retailers sending used and returned products out as new. Sounds like some retailers are using Amazon to dump their crap.
Mostly, you missed the date.
Amazon (company): Founded: July 5, 1994
Looks like I was reading of the future bribes - not the current
Still - they get a long list of tax breaks that a Mom and pop business can’t touch. They buy the pols to set things up to avoid competition. Nothing to do with ‘free enterprise’.
Gotta get a hover-round ...:)
“Still - they get a long list of tax breaks that a Mom and pop business can’t touch.”
And your source article is about unrealized “future” incentives. Something that has not yet occurred.
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