How Amazon Changed the Shipping Industry
This is a guest post from Karthik Reddy of Webmastersjury.
Founded on July 5th, 1994, Amazon is one of the biggest success stories of the digital boom and has transformed every area it operates in. Starting as an online bookseller, Jeff Bezos has built Amazon into a household name.
In just under 25 years, Amazon has grown into the world’s largest online marketplace and has spawned many successful side-projects, such as Amazon Alexa and Prime.
You can find virtually anything you could ever need to buy on Amazon. Given that the company holds nearly 50% of the North American e-commerce market and regularly has Amazon offers, it is easy to see why.
Something which is often overlooked is the effect Amazon has had on the shipping industry, something it has completely transformed.
How Amazon changed the shipping industry
Amazon and e-commerce, in general, has completely changed the shipping industry. Because of the way people shop and the demands consumers have, the shipping industry had to adapt to survive.
Items can now arrive on doorsteps within a few days and in some cases within 24 hours of purchase. With e-commerce growing at the rapid rate it is and becoming such a huge part of our everyday lives, Amazon is doing very well, and it is the shipping industry’s key player. But, how?
- Shipping Sizes & Weights
Amazon has made it possible to ship anything of any size or weight. Whether you’ve purchased a ball of string or a 75-inch television, Amazon has provided consumers with huge flexibility when it comes to shipping.
Shipping small items used to be cost ineffective; small packages used to cost carriers extra money due to the charge by weight system. Amazon changed the game and came up with the dimensional weight model which is now the standard for the shipping industry.
- All new delivery methods
It used to be the case that you couldn’t get deliveries on Sundays, but this is not the case now. The day of rest is now just a delivery day the same as any other, and consumers now have the opportunity to have packages delivered on Sundays by request. This goes to show just how far companies are willing to go to satisfy the consumer.
Amazon Key is another major development which has seen deliveries being made directly into your home by Amazon employees with a single-access key. It is currently being trialed in the US and will more than likely roll out on a full scale within the next few years.
- Drones are being used, too
Although drones were a rare sight only a few years ago, they are now commonly owned pieces of kit owned by the general public. Not only that, but Amazon is paving the way for the future of drone carriers.
Amazon recently introduced what it sees as the future of package delivery; drones which can drop items off at your home within 15 minutes of placing an order. By 2020, Amazon estimates that it will have over 450,000 drones in its fleet and be operating the delivery method worldwide.
What’s Next?
Amazon has completely transformed the shipping industry into an efficient 24/7 operation which is embracing new technologies and making brilliant innovations. There is no sign of them slowing down, and it shall be interesting to see what the future holds for a world on which Amazon is increasingly having more of an effect.
Check out our infographic for more information, cool facts and figures about Amazon, its history and what the future has in store for this truly global business.
Infographic URL: https://www.16best.net/blog/amazon-ecommerce-leader-infographic/
Changing the shipping industry? For sure the retail industry and markets. We now see the big guys trying
to emulate. But the “shipping industry” is a far reach. Certainly the last mile delivery has been impacted,
but “shipping” has a far broader reach than that. The logistics pieces after manufacturing, sure. “Changing
the entire shipping industry”??? NO.