The distribution network of Amazon and the footprint of freight digitalization

Jean-Paul Rodrigue

Journal of Transport Geography, 2020, vol. 88, issue C

Abstract: The emergence of e-commerce as a dominant retail paradigm is associated with a rapid shift in the commercial footprint towards distributional-based consumption. Through the analysis of the geographical expansion, market coverage, and functional specialization of Amazon's distribution network, the research underlines that digitalization has a pronounced physicality. E-commerce is favoring a transition from the conventional retail freight landscape towards a new physicality of freight distributions involving purpose-designed facilities, modes, and channels. The case of Amazon underlines a consistent locational behavior to achieve a distributional hierarchy of facilities granting logistical access to consumer markets. The distributional hierarchy is organized in three stages, which are procurement and fulfillment, distribution, and last-mile.

Keywords: Logistics; E-commerce; Digitalization; Freight distribution; Real estate footprint; Amazon (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (21)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jotrge:v:88:y:2020:i:c:s0966692320306074

DOI: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2020.102825

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