One-Day Delivery is the New Normal and Warehouses are Feeling the Heat

When Amazon announced last month that its Prime members will soon get one-day shipping, it changed the game for all e-commerce retailers overnight by once again raising customer expectations. Two days? Too long. Next-day delivery is the new normal, and everyone else will be forced to play catch-up.

Amazon is already capable of shipping to more than 70% of the U.S. population within a day, but it still needs to expand its network of fulfillment centers in order to make its promise a reality.  And so do its rivals if they want to stay in the game.

Online sales jumped more than 14% in the U.S. last year, topping $500 billion. That continued strength in e-commerce demand has fueled a prolonged hiring spree in the warehousing and storage sector of the economy, with employers adding nearly 70,000 workers over the past 12 months.

Brian Devine, senior vice president of logistics-staffing firm ProLogistix, told the Wall Street Journal he’s seeing “huge growth” for logistics and e-commerce workers in key hubs like Atlanta, Indianapolis, Memphis, and parts of Southern California and New Jersey — but added that there are not enough people available in those markets. “The unemployment rate is so low that it’s difficult for us to fill those positions,” he said.

That’s a common refrain in the world of e-commerce fulfillment: lot’s of jobs, but not enough people to fill them. And yet the orders keep pouring in, which puts a tremendous amount of pressure on existing warehouse staffers who are going above and beyond.

If you are running an e-commerce business and are wondering how to keep pace with this new industry delivery standard, it’s time to look at automating your warehouse. A robotics system can help make your operations run more efficiently and keep your valuable employees from getting bogged down by repetitive tasks, freeing them up so they can focus on more meaningful work. And it’s quicker and easier than you might think.

InVia Robotics is offering a complimentary white paper that provides a detailed exploration of the warehouse automation models available today, the key factors driving adoption of new, economical solutions, and how advances in mobile robotics and automation are transforming ROI.

This information will give you a better understanding of warehouse automation solutions and shows how the benefits of robotics can be both accessible and affordable. Access “The Evolution of Goods-to-Person” white paper here.