Shipping with Amazon (SWA) is the name of Amazon’s new delivery service. It is thought to rival UPS and FedEx, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Why is it attractive to customers? It seems Amazon wants to offer lower prices than competitors (FedEx and UPS) by adding extra package to the empty spaces in their trucks.
The service is said to start in Los Angeles and work with third-party merchants that sell on Amazon’s marketplace. Will Los Angeles be the only city? No. In fact, there may be plans to expand to other cities.
What’s changed? In the past, Amazon offered third-party sellers warehouse management software and fulfillment support to help merchants. While it doesn’t seem like SWA will be required for Amazon’s vendors, vendors that participate will help Amazon to coordinate more of the fulfillment operations. Amazon will also have more control of the delivery process from the time the package leaves a merchant’s warehouse to its arrival on a customer’s front door. For merchants that can only be a good thing.
It is possible SWA may enable Amazon to offer Prime shipping for any products from a business using SWA. This may be an advantage to Amazon because offering more Prime-eligible products could make a Prime subscription more valuable, giving subscribers more options and lead to additional purchases. And the end result? It may provide better customer experiences. Which Amazon has already done a good job of – but this could increase customer’s choice and Amazon’s revenue. Looks like it’s a win-win.
@DrNatalie
VP, Salesforce
Image Source: Wall Street Journal