The news of a new Amazon Delivery Service Partner program will doubtless send shockwaves through the carrier industry as every parcel Amazon delivers is one less for them to handle. Here in the UK, Amazon Logistics is already the fourth (if not third) largest courier in the country, with only Royal Mail, Hermes and Yodel competing on volumes of parcels delivered.
Amazon have a relentless desire with their customer obsession mantra to deliver the best possible experience, and even now there are few carriers who delivery seven days a week on a regular basis – Royal Mail certainly doesn’t and that’s just not good enough for Amazon.
At some point, it’s likely that Amazon Logistics will reach a tipping point and just as they lease out server capacity through AWS and warehouse space through FBA, they’ll start to rent out Amazon Logistics to anyone requiring a courier service whether it’s for a product sold on Amazon or not.
In the UK, there are a number of third party downstream mail providers who supposedly compete with Royal Mail but still use Royal Mail to carry out final mile deliveries. That’s likely to remain the status quo over the next few years, but as Amazon ramp up watch for the marketplace to start competing head on with Royal Mail and UK Couriers for parcel business and for large letters. It makes sense for Amazon as if they have a van driving down every road in the country seven days a week then the more volume the better. And they’ll be looking for profitable volume and can pick and choose as they ramp up, unlike other couriers who build warehouses and often to fill capacity take volume which has little or no profit.
Amazon are playing a long term game with logistics and one day soon they will be the biggest courier in the country and many other countries around the world. The announcement of Amazon Delivery Service Partner program isn’t even just the start, it’s an announcement to the world that they’re ready to ramp up Amazon Logistics to the next level.
11 Responses
getting to big to quick has it’s consequences, Amazon want to rule the delivery logistics world, not going to happen, as it’s all done by agency deliveries, delivering over 250 parcels a day, which counts to approximately 280 stops, drivers starting at 9am getting back between 5 and 11pm for 150 pound a day. I’ll let you work it out not even £1 a parcel.
You’re joking, right?
Amazon logistics are utterly abysmal, constantly trying to deliver to my obviously business address at 830 at night.
I’m currently on a free six months of prime because they fail so often
Bezos punishing trump.
Amazon will always use royal mail coz there standard of delivery leaves a lot to be desired don’t find half the places there meant to deliver too, leaving things end of lanes, wrong farms at outlying areas coz they carnt be arsed looking for correct house.
Eventually wen all this as happened it will be sent through royal mail to get it there.
Amazon are terrible full stop…..
Yeah…I don’t think they should worry too much. There is a ton of press about how their logistics are horrible (please see url’s below). I have had multiple shipments lost/delayed/damaged by Amazon this year, to the point I am giving up Prime (been a member since ’02).
https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-prime-customers-complain-delays-2018-4
or
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/online/amazon.html
Amazon Logistics used to deliver here but stopped about two years ago. What they do now is insert at the local Delivery Office and leave the last mile to Royal Mail … so exactly like Whistl, etc.
When they dispatch an order they give you a RM tracking number but it doesn’t work on RM’s system until it gets to the DO and if you check the tracking on Amazon’s site the depots it goes through belong to Amazon Logistics.
The worst part is that if a package is delayed or lost Amazon will still blame the “third party courier” even if the tracking shows the package was never injected into RM. I briefly mentioned it to RM last Christmas and they seemed to be fully aware that they were getting the blame for Amazon Logistics’ failures.
Been the industry now 3 years and the simple solution is the customer has got to help the couriers if you are not going to be in when your parcel is going to be delivered leave a note or address that helps couriers it’s not rocket science
Just give Royal Mail all parcels to start with. We will deliver to your door or neighbour or at worse it will be at your local office.
No matter which courier deliver for the businesses they have sold their service to the whole system breaks down if the end user ( the bod at the doorstep) can not be bothered to step up to the mark and leave special instructions and sign their preferences. Too many drivers are blamed for lost parcels or to wrong addresses when really the customer knows full well their house does not show up on satnav but do not for one second think that it may be a different driver delivering who has no idea of where they are. Also, too many people say to me the other firms put it in the bin, it will be fine or in the back garden etc, the problem arises when the bin has been emptied but the driver had no idea it was bin day on that day or the parcel left around the back was soaking wet or missing, then the end user complains about the driver, it is all too easy for them to get a claim when if they did it properly and gave thought to if they really want that parcel to actually leave clear instructions for the driver to follow, they don’t do this, why, can’t be bothered or they know the driver has to deliver to get paid so that is good enough for them and it will be left anywhere. The person at the time of ordering needs to be able to leave instructions. Before completing the order if they are not going to be in, also this needs to be communicated via the label process, so many parcel instructions on hand held units say follow instructions on the label but when you read the label it is blank apart from bar code and name etc. If Amazon were to really want to get into the 100% customer service levels within delivering parcels they MUST LOOK INTO THE WHOLE PROCESS, from start to finish not just to select the cheapest courier to use their own system. Every online retailer needs to sort out special instructions at point of ordering. General public are not geared up to know how to receive a parcel but should know the in’s and outs like the majority of drivers are owner drivers and have bills and a van to run so first time deliveries is what is wanted because if he/she has to come back again tomorrow, it is at his expense again, just because a customer couldn’t be bothered to write a simple note.