Amazon.com has made another move on its course of global disruption.
Over the past decade, the company has formed creative partnerships with the likes of FedEx, UPS and the U.S. Postal Service to handle the logistics of delivering packages across country.
Yet in an effort to keep up with its surging growth, the online retailing giant now seeking to take more control over the delivery systems that deposit its boxes to your door. Reducing its reliance on delivery partners, Amazon is focusing on all forms of transportation to establish its own distribution network.
The most interesting component of this strategy is Amazon’s recently revealed plan to recruit individuals interested in launching small, Amazon-affiliated delivery companies. Within weeks of the announcement, the company received tens of thousands of applications from potential “Delivery Service Partners.”
The response has led Amazon to ramp up its logistics plan. Last week it ordered 20,000 more custom Sprinter vans from Mercedes-Benz to add its its distribution network by 2019. It’s teamed up with a number of third-party fleet management companies, which will lease out the vehicles to approved “Delivery Service Partners.”
It’s another brilliant move that moves Amazon closer to gaining control of its entire logistics chain. The gaming-changing strategies that are being employed by the company are fascinating to watch.