案例库 · 战略与领导 · 运营决策 · 2019-2020
这条还没译成中文，下面是英文原文。
Amazon rebuilt its network so Prime could arrive next day
To move Prime from two days to one, Amazon layered sortation centres and delivery stations closer to the customer.
Amazon
那一手
Amazon's Prime promise had settled on two-day shipping, which meant a package travelled from a warehouse that might be far away. Customers wanted next day, and the constraint was geometry: the goods were not close enough for that to happen reliably.
The fix was a network rebuild, not a speed-up. Amazon created a layered system — fulfilment centres hold inventory, sortation centres take the night's orders and sort them by final destination, and delivery stations sit close to the customer for the last-mile run. By 2019 it said its US network included 110 fulfilment centres, 40 package sortation centres, 100 delivery stations and 20 air gateways.
Chief financial officer Brian Olsavsky described the shift as 'a drastic change to the whole network topology', and the cost confirms it: shipping costs rose 46% year over year in the quarter, while net sales rose 24%. Profits fell 26% as the company spent to add capacity, warehouse shifts and inventory staging.
CEO Jeff Bezos argued the change was the right long-term call: the fastest delivery generates the least carbon because the product ships from a fulfilment centre close to the customer, making long air and ground routes unnecessary. The network designed for next-day delivery replaced one built for two days.
为什么管用
- Two-day delivery was limited by where the inventory sat relative to customers
- A layered network of sortation centres and delivery stations shortened each run
- Amazon counted 110 fulfilment centres, 40 sortation centres and 100 delivery stations by 2019
- Shipping costs rose 46% year over year as the company paid to add capacity
可以搬走什么
If you want speed, do not make the route faster; put the inventory closer, and add intermediate layers that turn a long haul into many short ones.
后来呢
Amazon's one-day network built the launchpad for same-day delivery, and the layered system of fulfilment, sortation and delivery stations became the standard architecture for fast e-commerce. The short-term cost surge was treated as the price of a durable advantage, and retailers rushed to imitate the closer-to-customer model. Amazon later split the US into fewer, denser regions to cut package travel further.
资料来源
- Amazon CFO: shift to 1-day shipping a 'drastic change to the whole network topology'
- Amazon Prime Expands One-Day Delivery In Battle With Walmart
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