Amazon is pushing ahead with ultrafast delivery, a sign that it remains confident in its ability to push its logistics system for speed as it scales back on other areas of it business.
The US retail giant is continuing to devote resources to facilities and services structured around the idea of delivering customers packages in less than a day.
Amazon faces competition for fast-delivery operations while the company’s CEO Andy Jassy places emphasis on profit.
A large part of the strategy to offer ultrafast delivery is the company’s vast network of warehouses the firm calls ‘same-day sites’.
They are a fraction of the size of the company’s large fulfilment warehouses and are designed specifically to prepare products for immediate delivery.
Larger Amazon warehouses typically rely on delivery stations closer to customers’ delivery addresses for the final stage of shipping.
The company has opened about 45 of the smaller sites since 2019, with that number set to expand to at least 150 centres in the next few years, according to MWPVL International Inc., which tracks Amazon warehouse operations.
Mostly, the smaller fulfilment centres have been opened near large cities and deliver the most popular 100,000 items in the company’s catalogue, according to MWPVL.
The company has so far declined to provide information on how many of the same-day sites it has.
By offering ultrafast delivery, Amazon is seeking to make full use of its broad logistics network to compete with US rivals Walmart and Instacart, which both provide shoppers with ultrafast options.
Walmart uses thousands of its stores to help fulfil fast online orders.
Analysts believe that by offering ultrafast delivery, Amazon can broadly retail the majority of its £115-a-year Prime subscribers.
“We’re always exploring ways to bring our customers new levels of convenience and delivery options that work best for them. Same-Day Delivery is one of the latest innovations,” an Amazon spokeswoman told the The Wall Street Journal, adding that more than 1.5 million customers a month are trying same-day delivery for the first time.
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