Amazon wants to ship you anything in 30 minutes
Analysts predict that Amazon will try to add robots and automation to its entire operation. It is inevitable given Amazon’s focus on efficiency and pleasing customers.
Amazon is burning through billions to get you stuff faster. It’ll spend more than $35 billion on shipping costs this year, more than twice what it spent two years ago.
The company recently warned investors it’ll drop an extra $1.5 billion this holiday season as it works to transition to one-day shipping for Prime members. Profits are shrinking. And yet, this may prove to be a modest undertaking compared to Amazon’s future delivery ambitions.
“When we have a full drone fleet you’ll be able to order anything and get it in 30 minutes if you live near a hub that’s serviced by drones,” Amazon CEO of Worldwide Consumer Jeff Wilke told CNN Business. “That’s only possible because of robotics.”
Today Amazon has a fleet of 200,000 robots supercharging its fulfillment centers, alongside the more than 500,000 employees.
To continue to speed up delivery times and stay ahead of competitors, Amazon will need even more robots. It is already testing robots that carry packages on sidewalks and investing in self-driving vehicles.
Some robotics analysts CNN Business spoke with predicted that Amazon would try to add robotics and automation to its entire operation. They described it as inevitable given Amazon’s focus on efficiency and pleasing customers.
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