Free product delivery has cost Amazon $7.2 billion over the past year. So reports the site Geekwire based on the US giant's annual figures.
Amazon's delivery costs have soared since 2015. In that year, Amazon paid $5 billion for delivering packages. The increase could be explained by the number of items Amazon is shipping for free: 50 million items on Amazon's webshop qualify for free shipping, an increase of 73 per cent. Moreover, Amazon promises to deliver faster and faster, without charging a higher shipping fee.
Amazon hopes to cover part of the delivery costs with Amazon Prime, a subscription that gives consumers unlimited free home delivery of stuff. This earns Amazon $10 per user per month, but these subscription holders also get access to a wide range of films and series through Prime. So a large part of the subscription fees go towards that.
Amazon's annual figures show that the etailer delivered 40 per cent more from its own distribution centres last year. This is partly because Amazon takes on delivery for partners through its Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA).
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