It’s a Christmas shopping frenzy in the days leading up to the festivities. Shoppers stream to online platforms to make last-minute purchases and cash in on deals. This year, Amazon’s fast delivery techniques paid off.
According to Bloomberg, Amazon’s share of online orders spiked in the days before Christmas. The company captured 29% of the global market ordering in the last two weeks of the year. To achieve this, Amazon made significant progress in speedy deliveries.
The strategy
In July, Amazon announced its partnership with small businesses with an exceptional knowledge of delivery in their communities. They had a complete overhaul of the delivery strategy.
They divided the US into smaller networks. Previously, they were fielding orders from pretty much any part of the country closest to their operational sites. They now have interconnected regions, and all of them are serving smaller areas within that network.
Amazon can now direct orders to customers faster and at a lower cost. Placing the product closer to the customer helps ship items from nearby fulfillment centers.
Faster delivery bearing fruit
Bloomberg cites data on 55 million orders from the package-tracking app Route. It shows significant improvement from a delivery capacity of 21% during Thanksgiving week to 29% before Christmas.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy says speedy delivery is the critical competitive advantage. New data on e-commerce trends shows shoppers are more likely to purchase if retailers can deliver it faster.
There has been rising competition for Amazon, including growing e-commerce companies like Temu and Shein, which offer massive discounts. There is equally pressure from Walmart and TikTok.
Route’s CEO Michael Yamartino told Bloomberg: “The top priority in the days leading up to Christmas is on-time delivery, and when Amazon says it will take two days, it only takes two days. It’s a combination of speed and confidence.”
Competitive edge
The strategy has been in the making for the last few years. In 2022, Amazon surpassed UPS to become the largest delivery business in the US. It delivered more packages to Americans than UPS. It’s also been leading FedEx for the past two years.
Amazon faced an intense battle this holiday season with the rise in popularity of Chinese e-commerce companies Temu and Shein. Many US e-commerce find it hard to compete with their low-cost items. However, Amazon leaned into Shein and Temu’s weakness, unable to deliver items faster than a week after delivery.
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About the author
Mia is a multi-award-winning journalist. She has more than 14 years of experience in mainstream media. She's covered many historic moments that happened in Africa and internationally. She has a strong focus on human interest stories, to bring her readers and viewers closer to the topics at hand.
