Amazon is looking at all kinds of ways to improve logistics and reduce costs. They’ve been experimenting with drones and buying truck trailers, and now they’re taking to the high seas.
Seattle is home to one of the busiest ports in the US, and Amazon is
moving as much freight through it as anyone. They’re now setting up shop
in China, where the operation is listed as “1 Beijing Century JOYO
Courier Service Co.” By receiving authorization from the Federal
Maritime Commission, they can now extend their Fulfillment by Amazon
services to their numerous Chinese suppliers.
Just like with the truck trailers they purchased, Amazon won’t
actually own the vehicles themselves. They’re acting as a freight
forwarder. That means they’ll be organizing shipments from the factories
in China to their final destination. For now, that means an Amazon
warehouse. Eventually, if Amazon has their way, it’ll be your front
door.
The people most likely to benefit from Amazon’s latest move? Amazon
themselves, though customers will likely see some savings, too. Analysts
believe that Amazon should be able to secure more favorable pricing
from their suppliers since they can provide end-to-end logistics, and
that could lead to lower pricing for shoppers.
San Francisco-based Flexport also believes
that Amazon has one major advantage over the competition: they’re very,
very good at automation. Since a good chunk of shipping a container of
goods overseas is labor, Amazon might be able to further improve their
bottom line if they can apply their warehouse expertise the shipping
yard.