Amazon doesn’t need to take over the last mile of ecommerce delivery, but it does need to reduce its massive shipping cost burden in order to maintain its recent run of profitability, which is the logic behind its recent logistics moves.
Amazon announced plans to open a second fulfillment center in Joliet, IL, outside Chicago, to complement one opened last year, as it continues to expand its massive network to service 50 million-plus Prime members and marketplace sellers with guaranteed two-day deliveries as well as same-day service.
Again taking square aim at Amazon Prime, Walmart plans to offer free two-day shipping as part of its $50 a year ShippingPass program. See what else the retail giant has in the works as it looks to gain ground against its online rival.
Even when bias is completely unintended and based simply on business rules, perception can often be taken for reality. Thus Amazon did the right thing, reacting to protests by expanding free Prime Now service to minority neighborhoods in New York and Boston, and should quickly follow suit in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas and Washington DC.
1-800-Flowers announced it will offer customers the option to order floral gifts using Amazon Alexa on the Echo, Echo Bot, Amazon Tap and Fire TV, just in time for Mother’s Day. See how 1-800-Flowers.com will benefit from using Amazon Alexa.
MCM Outlook respondents said that Amazon had a major impact on their on their DTC business. This includes the pressure to ship faster, as well as the need to offer free or reduced shipping guarantees – both reactions to Amazon Prime and Prime Now services.
When does it make sense for a company to engage in same-day delivery? We caught up with Jason Acevedeo, senior director ecommerce operations at Limited Stores, at Operations Summit 2016 in Cincinnati to ask him for his thoughts. Find out how knowing your audience, their demograpics and location, and the type of products you sell all play a part.
Amazon announced plans to open a sixth Texas fulfillment center in Haslet, TX, making it the fourth Amazon fulfillment center in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The company operates an estimated 161 distribution, fulfillment and sortation centers in the U.S., totaling 68.9 million square feet, enabling it to deliver on Prime Now’s two-day delivery guarantee.
Locus Robotics, a company spun out of third-party logistics provider Quiet Logistics, has begun production and implementation of a DC-based order fulfillment robot which it sees as a next logical step beyond Kiva. The company’s executives claim its robots can be deployed a few at a time without major facility retrofitting, and will eventually be used in stores as well as DCs.
Next month Amazon plans to offer Prime Now via its website, significantly increase the reach of the service which until now was limited to access via its mobile app.