Speed is not just a fulfillment metric; it is also a customer acquisition strategy. Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) is once again investing heavily in its logistics operations. Recently, the company announced a wage increase for its operational employees, while reports indicate plans to expand its same-day fulfillment center network. The upcoming holiday shopping season, along with the goal of boosting user conversion through faster delivery times, are key drivers behind the retail platform's continued investment in logistics.

Preparing for Peak Season

On September 16, Amazon announced a pay raise, increasing hourly wages by $1 for eligible employees. This brings the minimum starting wage for full-time core operations staff to $20 per hour, with average wages nearing $24 per hour. The roles within Amazon's operations network include inbound, picking, packing, sorting, and shipping positions. From an external perspective, this move is partly to prepare for the upcoming holiday shopping rush. Amazon announced on September 14 that its Prime会员大促 (Prime Member Big Deal) would take place from October 6 to 7. Additionally, the "Black Friday and Cyber Monday" event and the Christmas shopping season are on the horizon. During peak shopping periods, Amazon typically increases its hiring. In October of both last year and the year before, Amazon announced plans to hire 250,000 employees for the holiday season. For instance, last October, Amazon stated it intended to recruit 250,000 full-time, part-time, and seasonal workers across its logistics and transportation network in the U.S.

Zhang Zhouping, Executive Dean of Bense Think Tank, noted that Amazon's actions are ostensibly preparation for multiple upcoming promotional peaks, but in essence, they are a continuation of its long-term logistics strategy. Firstly, it directly secures a stable workforce for the peak season, ensuring fulfillment efficiency and preventing stockouts or delivery delays from hindering sales. Secondly, it converts peak-season capacity into everyday delivery standards, using faster shipping times to boost overall conversion rates and repeat purchases.

In addition to raising pay for operations staff, there are reports that Amazon intends to expand its delivery network, planning to grow its same-day fulfillment sites to 1,000 by 2031. An Amazon spokesperson stated that this plan is only preliminary and should not be considered a final proposal. Undeniably, Amazon continues to invest significantly in logistics. In June, the company committed over 10 billion euros to expand and upgrade its fulfillment centers in Europe through next-generation robotics. In August, Amazon Prime Air announced its latest expansion plans, aiming to cover nearly 500 U.S. towns by the end of 2026, a six-fold increase from its current coverage, potentially serving communities with tens of millions of consumers.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has also outlined plans for logistics development this year, intending to achieve the next round of delivery speed improvements through multiple parallel paths. Prime Air and Amazon Now (30-minute ultra-fast delivery) are expected to complement each other. Zhang Zhouping commented that the fundamental reason Amazon strives to improve logistics service quality is that delivery speed has become the core growth engine for e-commerce. Faster delivery directly drives purchase conversion and increases average order value. Logistics capabilities are shifting from a cost center to a profit center. By opening up supply chain services to third-party businesses, Amazon can create a high-profit B2B revenue stream similar to AWS, building a new moat.

Amazon's public data shows that improving delivery speed also boosts fresh grocery sales. Since integrating fresh groceries into same-day delivery at the beginning of 2025, Amazon's fresh sales have increased by more than 40 times. Currently, in areas offering this service, nine out of the ten most frequently ordered items via same-day delivery are fresh grocery products.

Logistics as a Competitive Moat

Competitors are also making significant strides. Speed and store network development are priorities for other retailers. Walmart's earnings reports show that speed is not just a fulfillment metric but a customer acquisition strategy. Customers using fast delivery tend to shop more frequently, deepen their engagement with the brand, and are more likely to become Walmart+ members. Walmart believes the advantage it has created in delivery speed gives customers more reasons to choose Walmart across various shopping scenarios. Furthermore, the reports highlight the importance of physical stores. E-commerce sales now account for more than 23% of Walmart's U.S. business mix, double the level from five years ago. Walmart emphasizes that the more omnichannel it becomes, the more crucial its stores are. Between in-store shopping and digital fulfillment, a higher volume of sales is completed through stores than ever before, as stores serve as the last-mile fulfillment node for 80% of e-commerce orders and 100% of express deliveries. Walmart is also venturing into drone delivery. It has partnered with Wing, the drone delivery company under Google's parent company Alphabet, and announced plans in January to build a network covering over 270 sites, aiming to reach 40 million U.S. consumers by 2027. Wing has already completed over 1 million commercial deliveries.

In Zhang Zhouping's view, Amazon faces numerous competitors in its retail business, including offline retail giants like Walmart, Kroger, and Costco, as well as emerging e-commerce players such as Temu and Shein. Walmart's store network poses a threat to Amazon Fresh's delivery operations because stores naturally function as distributed micro-fulfillment centers, located closer to consumers, offering lower delivery costs and higher coverage density.

Building Competitiveness Through Logistics

What impact will Amazon's continued logistics investment have on its sellers? A clothing seller, Wang Zhi (pseudonym), said that logistics is a fiercely competitive area for cross-border e-commerce. Amazon's investment will be somewhat helpful in improving logistics, but at present, the impact is not significant. Considering costs, Wang Zhi currently manages his own logistics and fulfillment network instead of using the platform's logistics services. He also believes that Amazon's compliance costs for building out its logistics infrastructure could be high. Zhang Zhouping believes the main effects of Amazon's continuous logistics improvements include: first, domestic hub warehouses and automated replenishment mechanisms can lower sellers' inventory costs, alleviate capital pressure, and simplify export tax rebates and compliance processes; second, as sellers become more dependent on Amazon's logistics, the platform's bargaining power increases, potentially putting pressure on smaller sellers' fulfillment costs; and third, logistics infrastructure is becoming a core tool for platforms competing for Chinese sellers. While enjoying short-term benefits, sellers should actively diversify their sales channels to avoid over-reliance on a single platform, thereby maintaining long-term autonomy.