It’s not every day that reporters get a peek inside one of Amazon’s warehouses, but thanks to a great article from Wired, we can get a sense of just how big these warehouses are. Wired was shown around one of Amazon’s massive “fulfillment centers” in Phoenix, Arizona, to show how Amazon has become a platform for third-party sellers, much as its Amazon Web Services (AWS) has become a platform for any company that uses the cloud, from small startups to Netflix.
Amazon claims it is happy to have third-party sellers because it helps it expand its inventory to items it wouldn’t normally carry. Third-party sellers now make up 40% of all Amazon sales. Amazon tries to make it as easy as possible for third-party sellers through a simple process where they ship their products to the fulfillment center and then let Amazon handle everything else. As Wired reporter Marcus Wohlsen described it, “In many ways, Fulfillment by Amazon is like a physical version of AWS.”
Definitely check out the full article in the source below, if only to see more pictures of the enormous warehouses.
