As Amazon boosts Prime speed, Walmart alludes to free one-day shipping

Last week during its 1Q19 earnings call, Amazon announced it would be “incrementally” investing $800 million to transition its two-day shipping program to next-day delivery for its Prime customers. The following day, in a post that appeared on the company’s Twitter feed, Walmart hinted that it was planning to up its game with a one-day program of its own. https://twitter.com/Walmart/status/1121904198960996353 Could Walmart's desire to track Amazon’s delivery promises take the retailer to the skies as well, with a dedicated freighter operation? While it is reasonable to assume that faster order fulfillment will, to some extent, require Walmart to procure more air freight – at least somewhere in its supply chain – an own-controlled network is not necessarily required at this stage. Walmart has not revealed details of its program, but considering the Arkansas-based retailer’s current two-day shipping offering for online purchases, SKUs will likely be limited to its direct-sales inventory, which resembles the selection available at the company’s brick-and-mortar retail outlets. Since Walmart does not currently have a program comparable to Fulfillment by Amazon, which handles logistics for third-party merchants selling on its e-commerce platform, Walmart may not see an immediate need for air cargo transportation between fulfillment centers. Instead, the company will likely continue to leverage its physical retail stores as small-scale fulfillment centers. Amazon, meanwhile, continues to expand FBA, and includes many SKUs sold by third-parties in its Prime shipping program. Walmart’s online order fulfillment strategy could soon change – particularly after the company hired the former founder and head of Amazon Air. In January, Scott Ruffin joined Walmart’s San Francisco-based eCommerce unit as VP, Transportation Strategy. During Ruffin’s tenure at Amazon, which ended in November 2017, he helped launch Amazon’s "dedicated air cargo solution," according to Ruffin’s LinkedIn profile. Returning to Amazon, the company’s earmarked transportation spend to boost delivery times overlaps with the planned service entry for Amazon Air’s first 737-800BCFs. Last month, Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings confirmed that its subsidiary carrier, Southern Air, will put five of the aircraft in service by year-end . Undoubtedly, the narrowbody freighters will either support additional frequencies to existing cities served by the Amazon Air network, or connect new city pairs that were not previously feasible to serve with the larger 767Fs currently operating on behalf of the e-tailer. See also: Amazon secures options to more than double ATSG-leased fleet, boost ownership in company Amazon for its part has not confirmed which routes the 737-800BCFs will serve, though, regarding the incoming 737-800BCFs, an Amazon spokesperson told Cargo Facts, “We are excited to expand our Amazon Air fleet that enables ultra-fast, free shipping to customers.”

As Amazon boosts Prime speed, Walmart alludes to free one-day shipping

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Cainiao, Volga-Dnepr discuss e-commerce impact on load balance [VIDEO]

Atlas says Southern to begin flying 2 Amazon 737-800Fs this month

Related Posts

Aeronaves TSM 737 fleet growth underscores e-commerce pivot to air

Polar’s Krepp joins Cargo Facts Asia cool chain panel

From the Cockpit with CLA’s Sultan

Atlas says Southern to begin flying 2 Amazon 737-800Fs this month

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CARGO FACTS CONSULTING

CFC: Amazon air network spend exceeds $1B per year as dedicated fleet grows

Japanese air exports up in December and January, imports down

Follow Us