Amazon, which started as an online book store, has achieved spectacular growth to become the global leader in e-commerce. It became the top player with a simple mantra of wanting to become the earth\u2019s most customer-centric company, where people could get all they wanted to be delivered anywhere on earth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As of June 2021, Amazon had nearly <\/span>2.5 billion monthly visitors<\/span><\/a><\/span> to its website to purchase its products. While the Amazon marketplace had a 25% share in e-commerce spending, Amazon had almost half the share of US e-commerce sales in 2021, <\/span>accounting for 41.4%<\/span><\/a><\/span>. Covering over 12.2 million products, Amazon continues to rely on Marketplace sellers to get the maximum sales. With over <\/span>60% of sellers focusing on home and kitchen accessories<\/span><\/a><\/span>, big and bulky deliveries using <\/span>white glove services<\/span><\/a><\/span> have become an extremely popular choice amongst customers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n With the development of Amazon Marketplace, more 3rd party sellers have been listed on its site, and the trend seems to be on the rise. Between 2007 to 2021, Amazon was able to increase the number of 3rd-party sellers from <\/span>26% to 56%<\/span><\/a><\/span>. While it helps sellers get their products sold quicker, it also hampers them as they can\u2019t collect information about the users buying their products and have no hold on the seller service.<\/span><\/p>\n A shipping and logistics service was launched to help third-party sellers with a seamless customer experience. Traditionally, Amazon used third-party carriers like DHL or FedEx, but today uses contracted service providers with their own fleets to complete the delivery faster and efficiently. Amazon third-party logistics partners also include riders using motorbikes, bicycles, and even on-foot delivery guys in certain areas. It\u2019s important to note that the delivery associates would not be Amazon employees; however, they will have access to Amazon tech to complete the deliveries most efficiently.<\/span><\/p>\n Fulfilment Centers:<\/b> Amazon, which had built its first warehouse back in 1997, has come a long way, having over 150+ warehouse centers worldwide. By the end of 2023, it’s estimated that there will be around <\/span>360 warehouses and sorting centers<\/span><\/a><\/span> covering 319 million square feet. As of 2021, Amazon had 35 warehouses in California, 28 in Texas, and 17 in New Jersey. Amazon plans to add 517 sites for its worldwide distribution to help customers with faster deliveries.<\/span><\/p>\n Prime Now Hubs:<\/b> There were about 80+ Prime Now Hubs that helped with 2-hour deliveries. These hubs are much smaller warehouse versions and are usually found in cities.<\/span><\/p>\n Fresh Food & Whole Food Retail: <\/b>With the fresh food delivery market becoming a hot trend, Amazon has around <\/span>20 fresh produce distribution centers<\/span>.<\/span><\/a> An additional 12 warehouses were added on the acquisition of Whole Food Group for grocery deliveries, in 2018.<\/span><\/p>\n Amazon has a special division called Amazon Robotics which they use for shorting, shifting, and assessing product availability. With the help of AI being placed in warehouses, Amazon can now predict a rough estimate of the number of orders for a particular product, ensure the inventory is always stacked to meet customer demand, offer customers real-time data on the product availability, engages customers with previous purchases to ensure they don\u2019t miss out on their favorite purchases, adding of the shipping label on the boxes will help the delivery associate to complete the delivery faster as it would contain data of taking the most efficient route to get the product delivered and more.<\/span><\/p>\nAmazon Logistics<\/b><\/h2>\n
Role of technology in Amazon warehouses:<\/b><\/h2>\n
How does Amazon deal with last mile deliveries?<\/b><\/h2>\n