Amazon Doubles Fulfillment Network to Fast-Track Holiday Delivery

Amazon is ready to deliver for the holidays after nearly doubling the number of its fulfillment centers to more than 930 facilities across the country, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday (Nov. 29).

The company opened more than 450 new facilities nationwide to handle and ship merchandise, according to data from logistics consultant MWPVL International. As a result, deliveries are being made faster and with less reliance on third-party shippers.

Amazon has not had capacity restrictions for the first time in a while, Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky said on a call with analysts last month.

See also: Amazon Unveils Strategy to Ensure Timely Holiday Delivery

“We’ve made commitments that are larger than normal,” Olsavsky said. “Granted, it’s at a cost penalty in many cases.”

Over 98% of packages entering Amazon’s delivery facilities as of the middle of this month were delivered the next day, per data from ShipMatrix. Amazon’s fulfillment centers are generally located near parcels’ final destinations.

Aside from adding new fulfillment centers across the country, Amazon also hired about 670,000 people since the end of 2019, bringing its worldwide workforce to over 1.4 million.

Read more: Amazon: Consumers Buy Clothes, Toys and Decor on ‘Record-Breaking’ Black Friday

Amazon’s system used to be one where parcels were boxed in one location, and then sorted and shipped at another. More centers are being opened that work as both fulfillment and delivery hubs, MWPVL President Marc Wulfraat told the WSJ.

An estimated 30 fulfillment-and-delivery centers are expected to open by the end of 2021, which can stock some three million items. The facilities are planned near Chicago, Atlanta and Washington, D.C., with some 150 centers set to open near some of Amazon’s biggest markets, Wulfraat told WSJ.

The company also said last month that it has made use of more ports and doubled its container process capacity, and that its airplane fleet will soon top 85.