Over the past five years, Amazon has worked tirelessly to expand and enhance its logistics capabilities. In August 2021, Amazon Air—Amazon’s cargo airline—opened a $1.5 billion air hub in Kentucky.
This is another ever-increasing investment in Amazon’s domestic and international logistics infrastructure.
In November 2020, Amazon Air opened a 20,000-square-meter cargo facility (complete with two leased Boeing 737-800 cargo planes) in Schkeuditz, Germany’s Leipzig/Halle Airport.
As Amazon Air’s reach and fleet continue to grow, so does the value of Amazon’s fulfillment offerings.
Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) is becoming an increasingly viable option for omnichannel e-commerce sellers looking for a convenient, speedy, and reliable fulfillment partner.
MCF allows sellers to offload the logistical burdens of warehousing, packing, and shipping third-party orders.
This fulfillment workflow is almost identical to Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA), but with one key difference: while FBA is primarily used to fulfill Amazon Marketplace orders, MCF is optimized to fulfill non-Amazon orders.
Amazon’s ongoing investment in freight will benefit both services, but MCF may stand to gain the most.
The Expansion of Amazon Air Bodes Well for MCF’s Continued Growth and Usefulness
Amazon Air has grown exponentially since its inception in 2015 as Amazon Prime Air.
What started as a lease of 20 Boeing 767 planes has now expanded to 94 aircraft (with more on the way); a centralized air hub in Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG); additional air hubs in Leipzig, Germany and Sacramento, CA; and direct flights to over 50 domestic and international destinations.
Add to this Amazon’s continued commitment to handling their last-mile delivery, trucking, and warehousing,and the bigger picture becomes clear: Amazon is focused on becoming its self-contained retail ecosystem—handling everything from sales and marketing to logistics and fulfillment.
Eliminating reliance on outside delivery and freight services gives Amazon a level of end-to-end control few corporations can match.
This strategy is already paying dividends. As Amazon’s logistical independence increases, its delivery times and per-package costs continue to decrease.
When third-party fulfillment services are removed, two-, one-, and same-day deliveries are easier to guarantee.
That means more products on Amazon Marketplace featuring the coveted Prime tag.
It also means substantial cost savings for Amazon—reportedly as much as $4 per package (which adds up quickly for a company that ships over 1.5 million packages daily).
With the addition of the Kentucky air hub and its 100-plane capacity, the projections that Amazon Air could overtake UPS and FedEx seem increasingly possible.
Contending with established freight mega powers is no small feat.
However, Amazon is not only showing they can hang with the heavyweights, they have a real shot at becoming the go to for online retail fulfillment.
Whether Amazon eventually becomes the leader of the shipping and logistics industries or not, its rapid growth in a relatively short time proves that It is committed to further solidifying its value as an e-commerce powerhouse.
This means that MCF is a fulfillment service worth considering for sellers, especially omnichannel sellers already in the FBA ecosystem.
Unlike a traditional 3PL provider, which typically relies on networks of third-party freight, shipping, and air providers to fulfill its commitments, MCF provides sellers with a more self-contained fulfillment ecosystem that can carry out most, if not all, of the fulfillment workflows in-house.
Moreover, MCF’s already competitive offerings will continue to grow in value and efficiency alongside Amazon’s logistical investments.
Simply put, omnichannel online sellers should capitalize on the expansive reach and overall logistical clout of one of the biggest players to help build and grow their retail brands.
Sellercloud’s MCF Integrations Make It Easy to Streamline Your E-commerce Fulfillment and Grow Your Brand
As a preferred integrator for Multi-Channel Fulfillment, the Sellercloud omnichannel growth platform is the perfect way to unlock all of the benefits of MCF and put Amazon’s vast logistics capabilities to work for your business.
Much like our longstanding integrations with the FBA service, Sellercloud’s state-of-the-art inventory management and tracking capabilities can help your e-commerce brand get the most out of MCF with features that include:
- MCF inbound shipments—Sellercloud can initiate, manage, and track the shipments to stock your MCF inventory.
- Predictive restocking—Sellercloud tracks inventory levels and either suggests or automatically creates restocking shipments to MCF, so you never oversell or run out of stock.
- Rule-based fulfillment—You can create rules that automatically designate particular orders for MCF fulfillment based on factors like location, shipping speed, quantity, stock levels, and more.
- Move and remove MCF inventory—Whether it is dead stock that needs to be returned to your warehouse, returned inventory that needs to be reconditioned for resale, or even merchandise that needs to be destroyed, Sellercloud makes it simple to transfer and track MCF inventory.
- Profit and loss (P&L) reporting—By including MCF fees in cost of goods sold (COGS) calculations, you can ensure that you get the most value out of MCF with each sale you convert.
For more on how Sellercloud’s integrations with MCF, FBA, and over 300 other e-commerce partners can help you optimize and build your online business, contact us directly for a free demo.
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