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This is such a natural extension for Amazon to move in to. I've never had a consistently good experience with UPS, FedEx, or USPS. The success rate varies but a

This is such a natural extension for Amazon to move in to. I've never had a consistently good experience with UPS, FedEx, or USPS. The success rate varies but all three have caused packages to get lost, sent back to the shipper, or I'd get a "we don't know where your package is". Needless to say my confidence in the current shipping industry is low. Amazon could gain a leg on the current shipping/logistics companies even if they focused on just a few key areas: * Real-time shipment tracking * Cardboard-less / eco-friendly boxes * Neighborhood locations to deliver packages to Real-time tracking I think is the easy win. Setting up some form of eco-friendly packaging could be as simple as shipping your items in a reusable plastic bin, and then leaving you with the individual items you've purchased. However, one of the big problems particularly in NYC is reliability. Most people don't have a doorman and rarely will the postman leave the package for you. Even if they did, a lot of people don't like the idea of having their Amazon box sit outside their door for anyone to steal. Amazon already has their locker system and I think that could be the difference-maker. If I could ship to a convenience store, or a reliable place then I'd be able to grab my deliveries on the way home from work. Plus Amazon could reduce the number of deliveries they have to make in dense cities.

dinkumthinkum 13y ago
I think you write off FedEx and UPS too easily. They have a wealth of knowledge and infrastructure in this industry. When you talk about getting lost packages and so forth and that decreases your confidence, I find it hard to believe Amazon is going to perform so well that they don't make mistakes. I imagine they will likely make more than FedEx.
- cookiecaper 13y ago
  Agreed. As cool as Amazon is, it's unrealistic to expect them to have a 100% package delivery success rate, especially as the new kid on the block. Parcel carriers don't want to lose or damage packages, as it's both unsatisfactory customer service and extremely unprofitable. The carriers invest millions into R&D to minimize their failure rates and I think they do a pretty good job. We order from Amazon often and have only had one package lost in the last several years, and probably only 3-4 that have been late. When you consider everything that's involved in getting that little box to you within 1-2 days, the current shipping industry seems pretty impressive, and I dare say it even seems cheap. You're buying your little box passage on airplanes, conveyors, trucks, etc. for a few bucks.
nolok 13y ago
> * Neighborhood locations to deliver packages to In France we have such a system, "Point relais Kiala", not every internet shop allows it as an option but all the bigger ones do including amazon france. I can get my delivery to about 5 different places within a 10 minutes walk radius of me, and the advantage are numerous: no need to be there for an entire to sign because they can't tell you when it will happen, no "you weren't there I put the notification paper and you have to get your package at the post office" (leaving the package in front is not a thing like it seems to be in the US), real ability to check your package before signing, more reliable delivery time, .... And cost is the same as a regular delivery. It just is much better overall. And for Premium subscriber, it's free just like regular delivery options.
- _delirium 13y ago
  The German and Danish post offices offer this as an opt-in choice for postal package delivery. You indicate that you want your packages delivered to a kiosk instead of your house, and anything bigger than a regular envelope that's mailed to you will go there instead. That way the stores you order from don't even have to agree to ship to the kiosk; you can order from Amazon.co.uk, who don't know anything about Danish postal kiosks, have it addressed to your street address, and it'll go to the kiosk instead.
jseliger 13y ago
I've never had a consistently good experience with UPS, FedEx, or USPS. We used to have great experiences with FedEx in the '90s; their culture seemed much different then. Recent experiences have been less good: http://blog.seliger.com/2014/02/16/fallible-fedex-and-federal-deadlines/ http://blog.seliger.com/2014/02/16/fallible-fedex-and-federa... and now the company feel like any other big, uninterested, bureaucratic organization. We once had a FedEx manager go through a parade in Washington DC to get a proposal to a federal agency. One of their managers once delayed a plane (!) based on a snafu on their end. Now we have stories like the one at the link.

dinkumthinkum 13y ago

I think you write off FedEx and UPS too easily. They have a wealth of knowledge and infrastructure in this industry. When you talk about getting lost packages and so forth and that decreases your confidence, I find it hard to believe Amazon is going to perform so well that they don't make mistakes. I imagine they will likely make more than FedEx.

cookiecaper 13y ago
Agreed. As cool as Amazon is, it's unrealistic to expect them to have a 100% package delivery success rate, especially as the new kid on the block. Parcel carriers don't want to lose or damage packages, as it's both unsatisfactory customer service and extremely unprofitable. The carriers invest millions into R&D to minimize their failure rates and I think they do a pretty good job. We order from Amazon often and have only had one package lost in the last several years, and probably only 3-4 that have been late. When you consider everything that's involved in getting that little box to you within 1-2 days, the current shipping industry seems pretty impressive, and I dare say it even seems cheap. You're buying your little box passage on airplanes, conveyors, trucks, etc. for a few bucks.

nolok 13y ago

> * Neighborhood locations to deliver packages to In France we have such a system, "Point relais Kiala", not every internet shop allows it as an option but all the bigger ones do including amazon france. I can get my delivery to about 5 different places within a 10 minutes walk radius of me, and the advantage are numerous: no need to be there for an entire to sign because they can't tell you when it will happen, no "you weren't there I put the notification paper and you have to get your package at the post office" (leaving the package in front is not a thing like it seems to be in the US), real ability to check your package before signing, more reliable delivery time, .... And cost is the same as a regular delivery. It just is much better overall. And for Premium subscriber, it's free just like regular delivery options.

_delirium 13y ago
The German and Danish post offices offer this as an opt-in choice for postal package delivery. You indicate that you want your packages delivered to a kiosk instead of your house, and anything bigger than a regular envelope that's mailed to you will go there instead. That way the stores you order from don't even have to agree to ship to the kiosk; you can order from Amazon.co.uk, who don't know anything about Danish postal kiosks, have it addressed to your street address, and it'll go to the kiosk instead.

jseliger 13y ago

I've never had a consistently good experience with UPS, FedEx, or USPS. We used to have great experiences with FedEx in the '90s; their culture seemed much different then. Recent experiences have been less good: http://blog.seliger.com/2014/02/16/fallible-fedex-and-federal-deadlines/ http://blog.seliger.com/2014/02/16/fallible-fedex-and-federa... and now the company feel like any other big, uninterested, bureaucratic organization. We once had a FedEx manager go through a parade in Washington DC to get a proposal to a federal agency. One of their managers once delayed a plane (!) based on a snafu on their end. Now we have stories like the one at the link.