Amazon says it has achieved its fastest delivery speeds on record after overhauling its U.S. operations to put more items closer to customers.
More than half the items purchased by Amazon Prime members in the second quarter were delivered on the same day or the next day in the country’s top 60 metro areas, Amazon said Monday morning.
Delivery speeds and overall convenience are a key factor in Amazon’s competition with Walmart and other major physical and online retailers.
The company credited its faster speeds to a series of changes in its operations:
- A shift to regional fulfillment centers across the country with a broad selection of items, reducing cross-country shipments after orders are placed.
- Increased use of machine-learning algorithms to predict regional purchasing patterns at different times of the year, ensuring that regional centers are appropriately stocked.
- The addition of new Same Day Delivery facilities that combine the functions of fulfillment centers and delivery stations, improving speed and efficiency.
The announcement comes amid growing scrutiny of Amazon’s warehouse safety record. Current actions include a Washington state case brought by the Department of Labor & Industries over Amazon’s working conditions and injury rates; and an investigation launched in June by Sen. Bernie Sanders, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, who alleges that the company underreports injuries.
However, Amazon asserts that it was able to achieve the new delivery milestone while improving employee safety.
In a post about the news, Doug Herrington, Amazon CEO of Worldwide Stores, said the company saw a reduction of 23% in its U.S. recordable incident rate, and a 69% decline in its lost-time incident rate, two key safety measures, from 2019 to 2022.
Amazon says it has invested $1 billion in safety initiatives since 2019, and will invest $550 million this year.
“It’s easy to assume the faster we deliver, the faster employees work—but that couldn’t be further from the truth,” Herrington wrote in a post. “The speed improvements we’re making come primarily from placing products closer to customers.” He added, “The safety and health of our employees continues to be a top priority, and we’re pleased with our progress.”
Herrington wrote that Amazon’s approach also allowed it to continue to reduce prices and improve emissions.
Amazon reports second-quarter earnings on Thursday afternoon.
