Kirk Fisher
With the help of a $4B investment, and by using artificial intelligence to predict shopping habits, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) aims to expand its same-day and next-day delivery to more than 4,000 smaller cities, towns, and rural communities by the end of this year.
“Everybody loves fast delivery. So, whether you live in Monmouth, Iowa or in downtown Los Angeles, now you’re going to have the same fantastic Amazon customer experience: the ability to get the wide variety of items you need to keep your household running every day, delivered the same or next day,” said Doug Herrington, CEO of Worldwide Amazon Stores.
With a multi-billion-dollar investment, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) will triple the size of its delivery network with new warehouse and distribution facilities, delivery vehicles, and delivery stations that will be transformed into “hybrid hubs” to serve multiple functions, including inventory storage. This enables the company to position products closer to rural customers and reduce transportation distances.
The company will also use AI to predict which items are ordered more frequently in particular regions, such as phone chargers and water bottles in the South, batteries and fruit snacks in the Northeast, and paper plates and mascara in the Midwest.
This initiative builds on Amazon’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) impressive delivery capabilities as rivals step up their competitive delivery services.
Last year, Amazon (AMZN) delivered more than 9 billion items to Prime members across the globe the same day or next day. But Walmart (WMT) is catching up. Last year, by increasing the range of its “catchment areas” the retail giant – which offers a Walmart+ membership for $12.95 per month – completed 5 billion same-day deliveries, doubling from the year prior. And because of its extensive brick-and-mortar network, Walmart (WMT) can now achieve same-day delivery to 93% of U.S. households, up from 80% in 2023.