Amazon is known for fast, cheap deliveries – and now the company is taking it a step further.
The e-commerce giant has redesigned its extensive logistics network to reduce the distance products have to travel across the country to get them to customers faster and increase profitability. The Wall Street Journal reported.
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US parcel shipments hit a record high of 21.5 billion in 2021, according to a Pitney Bowes report; that same year, CNBC reported that Amazon is on track to become the largest US delivery service by 2022.
Amazon significantly expanded its shipping network during the pandemic, roughly doubling its warehouse space in two years; now it operates more than 1,000 facilities nationwide, per WSJ.
According to executives, reinventing the delivery network became a priority after the pandemic expansion, as the company also cites a link between delivery speeds and continued growth.
“If we offer faster speeds, customers are more likely to buy,” said Udit Madan, Amazon’s vice president of transportation. “They come back more often to shop with us.”
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Now Amazon has designated eight regions that must operate “self-sustaining.”
The new set-up means that products will not leave their regions unless absolutely necessary. That could change what customers see in their search results: Products that already fall within a region may appear first, per Madan.
