Analysts predict that Amazon, which surpassed Walmart as the most valuable retailer in the US in 2015, is building its own shipping company. This could be in line to bypass freight forwarding giants such as UPS and FedEx.
- Amazon purchased a 25% stake in the French parcel delivery company in 2014 and is now buying the rest.
- In 2014, Amazon purchased a 4.2% stake in Yodel, a U.K. shipping service.
- In December, Amazon announced it was adding thousands of trailers to its fleet to add supplemental capacity. The trailers are to be driven on the trucks of third-party carriers.
- Reports surfaced that Amazon was leasing at least one jet to fly packages daily between its hub in Poland and one in Germany.
- Amazon is also negotiating with Boeing to lease as many as 20 of its 767s to transport cargo within the United States.
John Haber, CEO of Spend Management Experts, an Atlanta-based supply-chain management consulting firm reveals that: The move is a clear indication the company is entering into the European parcel market.
He also adds: “We anticipate they will either make a similar acquisition on the U.S. domestic side (perhaps buying a regional carrier) or continue building out a delivery network internally.”
This would lead to a sizeable reorganisation of shipping strategy as it would reconfigure deals with carriers that are presently taken care of by other freight forwarders.
Amazon has as yet refused to comment.
Source: USA Today
