Page 7 - DIGITAL ECONOMY

BACK TO CONTENT PAGE

When are packages delivered?

There is flexibility in choosing when
you want to deliver. The hours vary
by location but they operate seven
days a week, almost every day of the
year. Delivery opportunities occur
throughout the day, including both
early in the morning and late in the
evening.

Amazon's planned test of its own
delivery service from merchants' warehouses to its fulfillment centers is the first step in a long-term
strategy that could change how packages make the final journey to your door, possibly resulting in lower
prices and faster shipping times for consumers. By using Amazon to come and pick up packages, the
merchants could shave as much as a day off delivery times, a boon when time equals money and also
customer satisfaction.
Not (yet) a last-mile delivery system

In a statement to USA TODAY, FedEx said that concerns about possible Amazon expansions demonstrate
a lack of basic understanding of the full scale of the global transportation industry. FedEx has said no
more than 3% of its business comes from any one customer. Starting small and only working with its
own business customers fits with Amazon’s usual approach of testing on itself and small groups of
customers before expanding to larger markets. That’s how it launched its profit machine AWS (Amazon
Web Service) cloud service company. Just last week it announced that it would begin grocery deliveries
from Whole Foods Markets in four cities to start.

Amazon already ships some of its own goods through its Amazon Logistics services. If realized, this
delivery expansion to its third-party sellers would continue the Seattle-headquartered company's
disruption of traditional retail and customer relationships.

Four years ago, Amazon acquired a 4.2% stake in U.K. shipping service Yodel and a 25% stake in French
delivery service Collis Prive. These came after some Christmas orders were not delivered timely. Amazon
has since become the sole owner of the French company. Amazon also has an air freight subsidiary,
Amazon Air, based out of the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. Its fleet currently
consists of 32 Boeing 767 cargo planes.
Last year it announced a $1.4 billion investment at the airport that's expected to be its primary air
freight hub, leasing more than 900 acres for a facility that will eventually support more than 100
Amazon Air planes and employ more than 2,700 people.
The push into delivery could also be a very long-term play against Amazon’s biggest rival in online
delivery, Walmart. That’s because Walmart has partnered with and owns an equity stake in JD.com,
China’s second largest e-commerce provider.

7