Amazon reported a record $3.56 billion in quarterly profit last week. But it also warned that spending will pick up again this quarter, especially as it raises the bar yet again on delivery. As reported by the Wall Street Journal:
One of the coming costs is the $800 million the company has earmarked in the second quarter to shift its Prime free two-day shipping program into a free one-day delivery as it faces competition from big-box retailers. [Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky] said Amazon would build out most of the logistical and fulfillment capacity through the year, but didn’t specify when the company plans to roll out the faster shipping.
As consumers, we might want free 1-day delivery, but do we really need it, especially when you consider the trade-offs in terms of more packaging, more deliveries, more traffic congestion, impact to the environment and so on?
