WOW - Amazon 480,000 Gifts shipped per day

[MarkPearson]

Found this on another forum: wow!

Internet retailer Amazon said it had a record-breaking Christmas this year, with its UK business delivering as many as 480,000 gifts a day during the festive period.

On its busiest day - 12 December - Amazon.co.uk shipped over 256 tonnes of goods, with Royal Mail trucks leaving one of its three UK distrfibution centres every 15 minutes.

3.6 million items were ordered worldwide on the e-retailer's busiest day, that's around 41 items every second. Between 1 November and Christmas Day Amazon received over 108 million orders globally.

The internet retailer said the most popular Christmas gifts this year were iPod music players, video games and jewellery. IMRG

[Coding Monkey]

And Amazon were billions of dollars in debt a few years ago.....

[MarkPearson]

I thought I was busy as christmas lol!

Can you imagine getting 41 orders a second :-) £££

[Coding Monkey]

In my business, I don't think I'd enjoy it that much! It takes just a biiiit longer than 1 second to talk to 41 clients. I'd certainly learn what works by having that many people to talk to with such a small amount of time.

I use Amazon for basically everything, apart from electronics, which is strange. I dunno what it is, but I always use John Lewis. The sneaky thing is that I associate Amazon as books, and Play.com with DVDs, so I search on Play.com for a DVD, then want to know what people have said about it, so go over to Amazon, read the reviews then just buy it from Amazon. They've sucked me in! There is no freewill!

[MarkPearson]

I have to say, I have never used amazon in my life!

Maybe I am missing out....

I did buy most of my gifts online this year and use Iwantoneofthose.com who were great and play.com -who failed to deliver before christmas :-(

[Coding Monkey]

Well, maybe this will help.

When I order from Amazon, I always order enough to qualify for free delivery (even though it's only something like £15 now). I then get Super Saver, which they say will take 3-5 business days to arrive. It never does. Not once has it taken 3-5 days to arrive, because every single time it's arrived either the next day or sometimes even the same day. I've had items that I was informed had been dispatched at 3am, only to get them at 8am. Admittedly, my post is rather impressive, so I can't say it will be the same for everyone, but they dispatch everything so quickly and it's always arrived before they said it would.

Plus they're cheap and offer everything I could ever want.

[creospace]

cd101.com or cdwow.com are good for music, amazon is generally all round the best. I've always been happy with their service although their international delivery rates are just ludicras!

Gary

[Coding Monkey]

I used cdwow.com for some CDs and they took ages to deliver, so I doubt I'd use them again. Play used to be pretty bad, with one item taking 2 weeks to arrive after it was dispatched, but I've found them to be more efficient lately.

[Asteeleleith]

Well just to carify the above, i think amazon is prob the next biggest hit to ebay for buying things.

It was started by a US stockborker i think who left his job to do it. Do you think the gamble paid off?:-)

I must admit nearly all my books come from there. It is also noteworthy that many re sellers also advertise their old stock on amazon. So if u don;t want to pay top dollar for a brand new book. There is a fair chance you can buy it on the spot at a much reduced price.
This in contrast to wating for bidding wars to end on ebay. personally i prefer it.
?I would be careful of the source though, there are amny american shops on there. Not that there is anything wrong with this. But if you reside in the UK and order from USa there could be a heavy import tax to pay:-)

I may end up doing a course on using amazon if anyone is interested. I will charge a nominal fee for it exclusive to UKBFers:-)

Al

[jklondon]

amazon is actually very good in the service dept. twice products have failed to arrive and they sent out replacements instantly - in fact in one case the prodcut did actually turn up a few months late! royal mail screw up.

[Asteeleleith]

I used cdwow.com for some CDs and they took ages to deliver, so I doubt I'd use them again. Play used to be pretty bad, with one item taking 2 weeks to arrive after it was dispatched, but I've found them to be more efficient lately.

Yes this is the downful with CD WOW it does take ages, but the cheapest DVDs, Cds in town though :-)

Al

[Coding Monkey]

Often, but they don't stock everything and their search feature is awful.

I recall they didn't stock Spooks, so had to order from Amazon and that was the last time I went on there.

[coxadmin]

Up until yesterday I have always been very happy with Amazon.

However I am currently in the process of testing their customer service in connection with a gift voucher that hubby recieved for Christmas this year that their system won't accept. I am so far NOT impressed.

I used their online email system, received a reply within 24 hours (as promised) but their reply requested further information via their online email system - now waiting for next response within 24 hours, which I suspect will probably be after New Year now. I hope I am proved wrong, but I am not impressed so far. The voucher is for a third of the price of the item we want so we don't want to save the voucher for another time.

[Asteeleleith]

i do know amazon has its base in Milton Kenyes where i believe they have pickers and packers putting orders together.

My exs dad uased to work their as a security guard.

Piece of useless information for you.

Al

[SillyJokes]

They have a massive place just outside MK, right next door to a massive Aid Pack packaging depot and a huge logistics firm.

I think they do a really good job. When I found out the site I had ordered all my kids Christmas presents had lost my order and didn't even know I had placed it three weeks after the event (they had some sort of two week crash) I looked everywhere to get another order placed. Argos' site wasn't working. Amazon came through with flying colours and I ordered about three times from them.

The main trick is only to order stuff with a 24 hour dispatch period though, or you can run into delays and really, you have only yourself to blame if it says 2-3 weeks for dispatch and takes a month. Even Amazon have to deal with crappy suppliers!


By the way the site that let me down so badly had a really poor customer service disaster management thing in place. Had they said here's £5 for the inconvenience please order again I would have but all I got was rather weak apologies. Not good enough. All my Christmas plans were crap and I had to start all over again when I was already up to my neck in getting goods out for my own customers. I'm still really cross about it and they have now lost a valuable repeat customer (I've got four kids, I never spent less than £100 there and ordered often)

[clairemackaness]

I always use amazon they are excellent. I also sell all my old books on there as paperbacks always go for peanuts on ebay. I get annoyed with that as I am a careful reader and should get more for a second hand book in nearly new condition.

[coxadmin]

now waiting for next response within 24 hours, which I suspect will probably be after New Year now. I hope I am proved wrong

Amazon proved me wrong :D - there was a reply in my inbox this morning!

No explanation but the provided us with a new claim code, which worked.

[Rob]

You certainly have to admire how an online business like Amazon can effectively handle 'old world' logistics in getting goods delivered.

Mac mentioned that they say it will take 3 to 5 days to deliver but nearly always arrives well before. This another example of how Amazon have taken a real world marketing ploy and taken it online - under promise and over deliver - i.e. stating it will take x number of days but knowing it will take them less time. Result? One happy customer.

I have just had experience of this. I ordered 2 books just before Xmas. They clearly told me on the order page that they would not be received before xmas (didn't need them before then but full marks for keeping me informed) and estimated delivery date would be 5th - 10th Jan. That was fine.

Checked yesterday just to see and was told they had already been shipped. Very impressive.

Like 'em or hate 'em you have to admire their attitude towards the customer and how they have got the basics right.