Unilever executives in India witnessed a demonstration by online retailer Amazon of its proposed delivery service using unmanned aerial vehicles or drones. During the videoconference, Amazon executives demonstrated the UAV-delivery service first described by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in his letter outlining the company’s Prime Air delivery service. According to a Bangalore-based Unilever executive, his company has no immediate plans to adopt the drone delivery concept proposed by Amazon.
"HUL executives check Amazon's drone delivery mode", Economic Times, May 20, 2014
Amazon is expanding its network of warehouses and distribution centers in the United States to strengthen its reign as the country’s leader in online retail. Spending $13.9 billion on order-fulfillment infrastructure, which includes 50 new distribution centers, in 2010 to 2013, the online retail giant is eyeing further expansion moves and seeking ways to speed up deliveries of online orders, which include same-day deliveries, to online shoppers’ homes. Other initiatives launched by Amazon as part of its efforts to grab a bigger share of the overall retail market include the Prime Pantry service for members of its loyalty program and the AmazonFresh grocery business.
"Amazon's Warehouse Expansion Goes Unabated As A Means To Unchallenged Dominance", Forbes.com, May 16, 2014
Shipping company FedEx’s plan to revise its shipping rates to charge based on the size of a package and not just its weight is likely to help Amazon.com in competing against smaller Internet retailers. Further demonstrating how Amazon.com’s size is helping it to expand its share of the online retail market, this development has also seen FedEx adding incentives for the online retail giant to keep using its service. With the huge volume of business it brings, Amazon is able to negotiate its own shipping rates with FedEx and other shipping companies. To deal with this FedEx move, online retailers are expected to use shipping boxes smaller than the ones they are currently using.
"FedEx’s Price Rise Is a Blessing in Disguise for Amazon", New York Times, May 09, 2014
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Wall Street Journal, May 06, 2014
Tech in Asia, May 06, 2014
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