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Amazon Is Testing Its Own Delivery Service To Rival FedEx, UPS (bloomberg.com)
Longtime package delivery companies UPS and FedEx may have some new competition from Amazon. The company is experimenting with a new delivery service of its own intended to make more products available for free two-day delivery and relieve overcrowding in its warehouses. Bloomberg reports: The service began two years ago in India, and Amazon has been slowly marketing it to U.S. merchants in preparation for a national expansion, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the U.S. pilot project is confidential. Amazon is calling the project Seller Flex, one person said. The service began on a trial basis this year in West Coast states with a broader rollout planned in 2018, the people said. Amazon will oversee pickup of packages from warehouses of third-party merchants selling goods on Amazon.com and their delivery to customers' homes, the people said -- work that is now often handled by UPS and FedEx. Amazon could still use these couriers for delivery, but the company will decide how a package is sent instead of leaving it up to the seller. Handling more deliveries itself would give Amazon greater flexibility and control over the last mile to shoppers' doorsteps, let it save money through volume discounts, and help avoid congestion in its own warehouses by keeping merchandise in the outside sellers' own facilities.
N=1: I order a lot from Amazon Prime. About a year ago Amazon switched to Amazon Logistics, and since then a lot of the time things that were supposed to arrive in two days arrive whenever, maybe 4 days. There is no useful tracking number like FedEx or UPS, sometimes things are listed as "delivered" in my Amazon account when they are actually "out for delivery". On one occasion something was never delivered, got refunded, re-ordered, never delivered again; finally on the third go-round it was ordered and actually delivered. Amazon has got quite way to go before it catches up with UPS or FedEx.
Amazon Logistics has been by far the worst carrier experience I have ever had. I mean bar none. Packages not getting delivered, packages arriving days late, delivery attempts to a business 3-4 hours after closing, etc. Claims of making delivery attempts to my business multiple times in a day which has a receptionist at the front desk all day during business hours.
I did eventually get these issues fixed with Amazon after a string of complaints and them de-prioritizing Amazon Logistics on my account. But it's far from a unique experience. The official Amazon forums are flooded with complaints that go back over a year.
The whole thing about using Amazon and Prime is that you know whatever you buy will be there in two days, hassle free, no issue with returns, etc. But that two day thing is key. If the delivery network is crappy it'll kill Amazon's business. They really need to get that sorted out before they start trying to sell the service to other companies.