Amazon Resumes Shipping Service, Poses Competition to FedEx and UPS
August 18, 2023, 6:00 PM ET
• 2 min read
In a move that will challenge established carriers like FedEx and UPS, Amazon has announced the relaunch of its shipping service, Amazon Shipping. The service, which had been paused during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, allows sellers to ship Amazon orders or products sold on other sites.
Amazon Shipping requires businesses to sell on Amazon in order to qualify for the service. Previously, the Seattle-based retail giant already offered shipping to merchants utilizing its storage and delivery service, Fulfillment by Amazon. However, Amazon Shipping now enables sellers to use the company’s delivery services without the need to store their products in Amazon’s warehouses. The service is currently available only for domestic shipments.
The program had been tested by Amazon in the past but was temporarily suspended in 2020, as the company focused on managing the surge of online orders through its own platform during the pandemic.
In a statement, Amazon spokesperson Olivia Connors expressed the company’s commitment to supporting its selling partners, stating, “We’re always working to develop new, innovative ways to support Amazon’s selling partners, and Amazon Shipping is another option for shipping packages to customers quickly and cost-effectively. We’ve been providing this service for a while with positive feedback so we’re now making it available to more selling partners.”
Amid the pandemic, Amazon had expanded its logistics infrastructure to cope with the influx of orders on its platform. However, as the situation improved, the company found itself with an excess amount of warehouse space across the country. To address this issue, Amazon began subleasing some warehouses, terminating leases, and delaying construction on new buildings.
Additionally, Amazon has reported faster shipping speeds, with more than half of its Prime orders arriving the same day or the next in the top 60 U.S. metropolitan areas during the second quarter of this year. The company plans to double the number of same-day delivery sites in the coming years.
With the relaunch of Amazon Shipping, the e-commerce giant is once again positioning itself as a formidable competitor in the shipping industry, potentially disrupting the dominance of established carriers like FedEx and UPS.