Amazon Gives FedEx and UPS More Reasons to Worry
The company’s interest in transportation and logistics hints at grander ambition.
Amazon already knows the routes. Can delivery be far behind?
Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg
It can be tough to keep track of all the industries in which Amazon.com Inc. wants to spread its tentacles. There are groceries and health care and business computing and banking and entertainment and advertising and gadgets for the home and — oh, shopping.
We shouldn’t lose sight of Amazon’s interest in transportation and logistics — moving physical goods by land, sea and air, organizing that transportation, storing merchandise or delivering it to the right place. PwC has said this is a roughly $5 trillion annual market, which fits with Amazon’s love of attacking massive pools of spending.