LABEL Issue III
Bezos’ words “The hard part here is putting in
all the redundancy, all the reliability, all the
systems you need to say. Look, this thing can’t
land on somebody’s head while they’re
walking around their neighbourhood”
Now the big question is that Amazon is quite
systematic when it comes to announcing its
future plans and is quite taciturn to share
details. And when it does, it does so with its
own ends in mind. That begs the question:
why did Jeff Bezos pre-announce Amazon
drone delivery so early?
But what can be noted down is that, it is a
pretty broad flail at all local retail, especially
big box retailers such as Walmart, Kmart and
Target. While these guys are fighting to get
their services web and mobile ready, Amazon
is fine-tuning what matters the most in digital
commerce: supply chain and speed of
delivery. Amazon
is
ameliorating
and
upgrading its supply chain to go from beyond
delivery on the same day to within a few
hours, with ultimate ambition of being less
than an hour. Also it is a good way to push
UPS, FedEx and USPS to come up with new
delivery models befitting this new changed
retail and consumption landscape.
holiday order demand. Bezos showed the
drones as an auxiliary to the on road supply
chain system.
This led FAA to release a document outlining
its plans to start integrating drone-type
vehicles into the nation’s airways. Even so, the
report specifically bars operation of unmanned
aircraft that use a computerized flight path
instead of being controlled by a person which
Amazon wishes to do. Small drones like the
one demonstrated by Bezos are expected to
have separate rules requiring they be flown
within sight of an operator and only in
unpopulated areas. The ability of these drones
to meet the vagaries of weather has not yet
been established.
The challenges apart, the commencement of
delivery of goods by drones will mark the
beginning of a new era. Mired by supply chain
regulations and decreasing speed of delivery
allegation, the e-retail industry suffers a huge
setback. This grand initiative by Amazon can
be the panacea for all. In Jeff Bezos’ own
words, “we like to pioneer, we like to
explore. We like to go down dark alleys
and find out what's on the other side."
The research into delivery by drone is a
reflection of the fact that some of Amazon’s
most profitable customers are members of its
Prime program, which promises fast delivery.
The company invests heavily in distribution
and delivery, which made up the largest
portion of Amazon’s expenses in the third
quarter. Investors have advocated the spending
on capacity -- ѡ