Amazon is back in spending mode, preparing to deploy $4B to expand its delivery network throughout rural areas of the country by the end of next year.
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The e-commerce titan plans to triple its network of rural distribution hubs to help deliver another 1 billion packages annually across 13,000 ZIP codes, CoStar News reported.
“[Amazon will] build out our same-day delivery sites and add additional robotics and automation throughout our buildings,” Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said during the company’s Thursday earnings call. “You'll also see us expand the number of delivery stations that we have in rural areas of the U.S. So, we can get items to people who live in less densely populated areas much more quickly.”
The $4B investment is expected to be disbursed through 2026, the company said.
Keeping prices low during uncertainty driven by inconsistent federal tariff policies is also a top priority for the company, according to Jassy. It’s hard to tell when and where tariffs are going to settle, he said.
“There's maybe never been a more important time in recent memory than trying to keep prices low, which we're heads down, pretty maniacally focused on, and then [getting] things to people quickly,” he said.
Amazon will focus on improving its inventory placement to reduce travel distances and speed up delivery. It has done some forward buys of inventory, and its third-party sellers have “pulled forward a number of items so that they have inventory here as well,” Jassy said.
Amazon has disputed reports that it would list added costs from tariffs to the prices of its products. Prior to the denial, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called the move “a hostile and political act.”
Amazon has more than 2 million sellers who might not all take the same strategy if higher tariffs are implemented, Jassy said. Even so, he added that customers have a better chance of finding product variety and lower prices on Amazon than elsewhere.
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