Amazon Packages

[Gordy99]

I order a decent amount of stuff from Amazon each month. I live in the US. I have some subscribe and save deliveries each month. I also order things when I need them each month at any given time.

I noticed in the last year or so that a lot of my orders are being sourced from Amazon warehouses far away. Logistically it doesn't make sense. I have prime so it's not costing me anything extra but I can't help but notice. I especially notice the sourcing of one particular subscribe and save item that has come from 9 different warehouses all over the country in the last 9 months. Makes no sense.

I called Amazon recently and they have no clue why certain orders are sourced from certain warehouses. The person pointed out that there could be a shortage of that particular item so it has to be sourced from a warehouse far away. Seems plausible. When I look at the buy again section on Amazon it shows most of my items will arrive tomorrow because they are one day items. If they are one day items then I doubt Amazon is going to overnight the item from across the country (I guess I could be wrong). Anyway, my recent subscribe and save order with multiple items was sourced from far away and took three days to arrive (one day past the guaranteed arrival date). All of the items are common and can be manually ordered by me and arrive in one day (most likely from a nearby warehouse).

Does anyone on here work for Amazon and have any input? Amazon seems like an intelligent company especially when it comes to logistics. So why source my items from far away on a somewhat regular basis? It seems to impact my subscribe and save items as opposed to random orders but it does sometimes happen to my random orders.

 

[Celerity]

I can't speak for Amazon, but sometimes the cheapest route isn't the shortest. A product from my supermarket employer elegantly demonstrates the limitations of capitalist "efficiency": we sell diced pears that are grown in South America, packed in Taiwan, and finally sold in the southeastern USA. Amazon also wastes a bunch on materials.

 

[western_heart]

I'm surprised that the subscription orders don't ship from a closer warehouse.

Is it possible the things you order aren't very popular in your area? Or that an item is popular / has low stock / sells quickly & the items aren't evenly distributed through their network? I've read a little bit about how Amazon will shift inventory around different warehouses

eta: I've seen them send stuff across the country for fast delivery, they have their own planes and all. Funny thing is when they do this for me, it actually arrives at an airport close to me, gets driven an hour away for sorting, and then driven back to my city and then put on the truck to deliver it to me...

I think they have staffing issues, my packages have been late maybe 20% of the time since 2020, sometimes they are just lost and I cancel & reorder, sometimes they ship via other carriers

 

[Gordy99]

I'm surprised that the subscription orders don't ship from a closer warehouse.

Is it possible the things you order aren't very popular in your area? Or that an item is popular / has low stock / sells quickly & the items aren't evenly distributed through their network? I've read a little bit about how Amazon will shift inventory around different warehouses

eta: I've seen them send stuff across the country for fast delivery, they have their own planes and all. Funny thing is when they do this for me, it actually arrives at an airport close to me, gets driven an hour away for sorting, and then driven back to my city and then put on the truck to deliver it to me...

I think they have staffing issues, my packages have been late maybe 20% of the time since 2020, sometimes they are just lost and I cancel & reorder, sometimes they ship via other carriers

I appreciate the insight. It does seem odd that they ship from warehouses far away but perhaps they are shifting inventory. There are sometimes items that I order that are not common but for the most part everything I order is common. I wonder if Amazon uses subscribe and save orders to shift their inventory and then other people ordering those same items get sourced from close warehouses.

I guess I am just curious. Lately some of my Amazon stuff has been late or it says the items won't arrive for three or four days prior to ordering. Not sure if there are staffing issues. I placed an order on Wednesday for a random item that I haven't purchased in about a year and they sourced it from a warehouse 4 hours away. It's a warehouse that I have never had my items sourced from before.