Amazon, the largest e-commerce network in the world, has been around for while. Launched in 1996 as an “EVERYTHING STORE” online, Amazon gained popularity with both customers as well as sellers. Amazon provides the best in-class platform to new and existing sellers to launch professional private label brands or just sell as a regular non-branded seller (commonly known as Arbitrage) offering customers a wide variety of products to shop.
Ever since its existence, Amazon has been very well known for its unbeatable delivery of customer orders. Over the years, the customer centric e-commerce retailer has moved orders via air shipping with FedEx, UPS and USPS.
While on the rise, Christmas 2013 happened. Lord Jesus!! That was one big puddle Amazon stepped into. One of the most reliable national carriers UPS, failed to deliver 7.75 million Amazon packages in time for December 25th. The result of the which was a big blow to Amazon’s reliable reputation, with Amazon issuing apologies to its customers and offering $20 gift cards to those affected by this incident during the holiday season of 2013.
So, what does that tell us about Amazon? It’s an ever growing and largest e-commerce network on the planet. But with that level of customer support and order supply, it’s pretty hard to keep up with Amazon when it comes to logistics. Around that time of December 2013, UPS and FedEx, both achieved an exit out of Amazon’s ever scaling delivery demands – a statement made by Kevin Sterling, Seaport Global Securities’ managing director.
From then on, Amazon was determined to give its customers the most convenient experience of online shopping and determined to never let them down again. Amazon did so, by reducing its reliability on third-party logistic companies, giving birth to an in-house delivery network.
Amz’s delivery network includes pretty much every mode of transportation that exists today. Trucks, trains, ocean shipping and here’s the faster one – Planes. Four years after Amazon launched its in-house delivery network, the e-commerce giant has forty Boeing 767s, and is planning to add 10 more to its vast collection of Amazon Air planes. Drone deliveries might be around the corner.
Business Insider wrote in an article, Amazon has 760 cargo flights per week, according to Marc Wulfraat, president and founder of the supply-chain consultancy MWPVL International Inc. “Amazon is doing everything possible to keep their shipping expense low because it’s ballooning,” Wulfraat said.
At this rate, “Amazon could scale to 100 planes by 2025. It services 20 domestic locations, and three more Amazon Air gateways are underway in Ohio, Illinois, and Texas.”, statement made by a Morgan Stanley Analyst.
