How many packages does Amazon deliver each year?

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How many packages does Amazon deliver each year? – Aya K., 9, Illinois

It’s incredibly convenient to buy something online, directly from your computer or phone. Whether it’s a high-end telescope or a refill of toothpaste, the goods appear right outside your door. This type of shopping is called “e-commerce” and it’s becoming more popular every year. In the US, it has grown from just 7% of retail purchases in 2012 to 19.6% of retail sales and $791.7 billion in sales in 2020.

Amazon’s growing reach

For Amazon, the biggest e-commerce player, that means delivering a lot of packages. In 2021, the company shipped estimated 7.7 billion packages worldwide, based on almost $470 billion in sales.

If each of these packages were a one-foot square box and they were stacked one on top of the other, the stack would be six times taller than the distance from the Earth to the Moon. Stacked end to end, they would wrap around the Earth 62 times.

In the early 2010s, most items purchased on Amazon.com were shipped via a third-party carrier such as FedEx Or UPSIn 2014, however, Amazon began delivering its own packages using a service called Fulfillment by Amazon. distinctive blue delivery vans began to appear on local streets.

Since then, Amazon’s logistics business has evolved from being entirely dependent on other carriers to 22% of all packages in the U.S. in 2021. This is more than FedEx’s 19% market share and slightly less than UPS’s 24%. multi-channel order fulfillment service allows other websites to operate its storage and shipping services. So your Etsy or eBay order can also be packed and shipped by Amazon.

Supply chain

To handle so many packages, shipping companies need a huge network of manufacturers, vehicles, and warehouses that can work together. This is called the supply chain. If you’ve ever used a tracking number to track a package, you’ve seen this in action.

The people who make decisions about where to send vehicles and how to route packages are constantly trying to keep costs down while still getting packages to customers on time. The supply chain can do this very effectively, but it also has its drawbacks.

More delivery vehicles on the road generate more greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate changealong with pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and particulate matter that are hazardous to inhale. Traffic jams It is also a major problem in cities, where delivery drivers try to find a parking space on busy streets.

Urban transport solutions

Are there ways to balance the growing number of deliveries while ensuring the safety, sustainability, and speed of freight? At the University of Washington Supply Chain Transport and Logistics CenterWe work with companies like Amazon and UPS and others in the shipping, transportation and real estate sectors to answer questions like these. Here are some solutions for what we and our colleagues call the “last mile” – the final leg of a package’s long journey to your door.

– Electrification: Switching from petrol and diesel vehicles to fleets of electric or other zero-emission vehicles reduces pollution from delivery vehicles. Tax breaks and local policies, such as creating so-called green loading zones and zero-emission zones for tidy vehicles provide an incentive for companies to make the switch.

– Public operator lockers: Buildings may be equipped with lockers cabinets in central locations, such as busy public transport stops, so drivers can drop off packages without having to come to your door. When you’re ready to pick up your items, simply stop at your convenience. This reduces both the number of miles the delivery vehicle drives and the risk of packages being stolen from front porches.

– Cargo bikes: Companies can take the delivery van out of the equation and operate electric cargo bikes for dropping off smaller packages. In addition to emitting no exhaust fumes, cargo bikes are relatively inexpensive and effortless to park, and they also provide a healthier alternative for delivery drivers.

To learn more about supply chains and delivery logistics, contact your city’s transportation department to see if they are testing or already have programs or policies for freight deliveries like those in New York AND Seattle. And next time you order something for delivery, consider pickup options like walking or biking to a parcel locker or collection point, or combining items into one delivery.

Parcel delivery can be convenient and sustainable if companies develop their supply chains and everyone considers how delivery will work in their area.

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