Amazon’s about to beat the delivery giants at their own game

Source: Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

Back in the olden days, believe it or not, Amazon used outside carriers to deliver its packages.

But after a holiday mishap in 2013, which resulted in outside carriers failing to deliver Amazon packages in time for Christmas, Amazon basically said “screw this.”

Fast forward to 2021 — yesterday, Amazon’s CEO of worldwide consumer business said the company could be the largest US package delivery company by year end.

What’s happened since 2013?

In short, Amazon did what Amazon does best: It built its own solution to its own problem, rapidly assembling one of America’s largest transportation networks. In less than a decade, the company put together:

• An army of 400k delivery drivers
• An arsenal of 40k semis and 30k vans
• A fleet of 70+ planes

So if you feel like you’re seeing more Amazon logos around your neighborhood, it’s because you are.

And the prime move by Amazon…

… is that it utilizes all this physical real estate as a giant billboard.

When Amazon has a new show on Prime Video, it can advertise it on the packing tape on cardboard boxes. Or if it’s trying to drive up Prime subscriptions, it can slap a funny slogan on the back of 40k semis.

Amazon’s investment in delivery could prove to be a highly successful vertically-integrated move. Much more so than the time it unknowingly updated its app icon to look like Hitler’s mustache.