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Introduction
This is an article that documents the Amazon global fulfillment center network. MWPVL International does not represent Amazon in any way and this article is only for informational purposes.
It all started in July, 1994 when former investment banker Jeff Bezos left New York City for Seattle to launch a new on-line book store. Amazon.com took shape over the next 12 months and the company's web storefront recorded its first sale in July, 1995. By year-end 1996, Amazon.com had generated 15ドル.7 Million in sales. On May 15, 1997 Amazon.com raised 54ドル Million of capital with an IPO on the NASDAQ (AMZN). The company grew at an astonishing pace with sales reaching 1ドル.6 Billion by the end of 1999.
In 2000, Amazon took a sharp turn for the worse when a quarterly financial loss of 323ドル Million was reported. A subsequent quarterly loss of 200ドル Million sent the company share price tumbling by 70%. Losses continued through 2000 with Amazon reporting a massive 1ドル.4 billion loss for the year. Speculation on the street was that Amazon would file for bankruptcy and the company's stock hit an all time low. In 2001, a major cost cutting and restructuring effort restored profitability to the firm and Amazon has not looked back since. While Amazon has not been a consistently profitable company, the company has had an unprecedented impact on the retail industry in large part due to its visionary leadership and continuous investments into the company's sophisticated supply chain.
In 1997, Amazon launched its distribution network with two fulfillment centers in Seattle and Delaware. The original 93,000-square-foot Seattle facility was largely manual and now seems tiny relative to the new fulfillment centers being built today. The 202,000-square-foot facility in New Castle, Delaware was undoubtedly a brave gamble back in November 1997. In 1999, Amazon expanded by adding fulfillment centers in: Fernley, NV; Coffeyville, KS; McDonough, GA (later closed in 2001); Campbellsville, KY; and Lexington, KY. At the same time, Amazon expanded into Europe with fulfillment centers in Regensburg, Germany; Bad Hersfeld, Germany; and Marston Gate, UK. Things then went relatively quiet on the expansion front until 2005 and since then Amazon's fulfillment network has been growing at an unprecedented pace around the world.
To view maps of Amazon’s Global Distribution Network click here.
In 2022-2023, the Amazon distribution network was impacted by the company's need to reduce operating expenses. Over 123 buildings were either closed, canceled or delayed, primarily in the USA.
Please note that in future we will no longer be updating this information online due to the high rates of plagiarism of this content. People seem to think that stealing digital content is fine but we remain the only accurate source of this data and we have invested significantly to support this project for over 16 years. If there is an interest in obtaining current information available in XLSX format then please contact us and we can provide details regarding the commercial terms. You can reach us by email here.
As of 2025 Q1, to the best of our knowledge, Amazon operates the following global distribution infrastructure:
[画像:Amazon Distribution Center Summary Table]
The Amazon Fulfillment Center in the United States
Currently Amazon operates a variety of different types of fulfillment in the United States including small sortable, large sortable, large non-sortable, specialty apparel and footwear, specialty small parts, returns processing centers, and 3PL outsourced facilities. A detailed listing of all existing and known Amazon Fulfillment Centers appears in the table below. All figures provided are estimates based on our research. Please note that the square footage figures below exclude mezzanine areas.
[画像:Amazon Fulfillment Center Network in USA]
The Amazon Fresh Distribution Center Network in the United States
Amazon currently operates a network of ambient and cold storage grocery distribution centers across the United States service Amazon.Fresh customers orders. This distribution network is unfolding slowly and the list of facilities below is likely incomplete. Some of the Amazon food-related facilities are shared with other operations such as the sortation center facilities. The buildings listed below are used in part or in whole for Amazon.Fresh operations.
[画像:Amazon Food Distribution Center Network in USA]
The Amazon / Whole Foods Retail Food Distribution Center Network in the United States
Amazon acquired Whole Foods in August, 2017 and by extension took ownership of the Whole Foods retail grocery distribution network. The existing Whole Foods distribution network is largely focused on Perishables merchandise for its retail stores in each major market region being serviced as documented below.
[画像:Amazon Whole Foods Retail Grocery Distribution Center Network in USA]
The Amazon Fresh Hub Network in the United States
In late 2014, Amazon launched a rapid build-out of a distribution network consisting of smaller footprint urban distribution buildings positioned close to the centers of large metropolitan cities across the country. Amazon’s Fresh Hubs are typically stocked with the highest velocity items that are popular such as bottled water. These facilities only stock a limited line of products (e.g. 15,000 different items) to enable Amazon Prime Now members to place orders for this merchandise and receive rapid delivery in as little as 60 minutes from the time of order placement. It is highly likely that this build-out will be phased out or reduced in the future as these buildings overlap with the SubSameDay fulfillment center network and the retail store network. Note that in the table below, if the square footage of the facility is set to zero then the operation is co-located in another building therefore we do not double-count the square footage.
The data concerning the Amazon Fresh network is challenging to track and this is the best information that is currently available.
[画像:Amazon Prime Now Network in USA]
The Amazon National and Regional Inbound Cross Dock (IXD) Network in the United States
In 2024 - 2025, Amazon is restructuring its inbound cross dock network such that there will be national (NIXD) and regional (RIXD ) buildings. In future, inbound shipments from vendors will flow into the nIXD buildings which are large holding tanks typically positioned near the major water and inland ports. These buildings will serve as long-term storage sites for 1P and 3P inventory. The NIXD buildings will replenish the RIXD buildings which are typically positioned closet to the fulfillment centers. NIXD buildings can replenish all RIXD buildings but RIXD buildings will only replenish fulfillment centers within their geographic region. In all liklihood, there will be many variations on this theme but this is our understanding of how the newly designed system is intended to work.
[画像:Amazon Inbound Crossdock Network in USA]
The Amazon Regional “Middle Mile” Sortation Center Network in the United States
Amazon currently operates a network of regional sortation centers across the United States to increase control over the outbound transportation of packages within its own distribution network (for more detailed information about Amazon’s sortation network click here). These buildings are key enablers to organizing outbound packages by region of the country and by carrier. The purpose of these facilities is to sort packages to pallets by zip code so that they can be transfered to an Air Hub (for out of region packages), or to an Amazon Delivery Station, or to the USPS post office that is responsible for the zip code. Packages being shipped by UPS are picked up directly at the fulfillment center and do not get processed by the Amazon sortation centers for the most part.
This system was introduced to the U.S. in 2014 and has been instrumental to Amazon taking greater control over its outbound shipping operations and expenses. Sortation centers are typically, but not always, standalone buildings within the Amazon Network. Sortation centers can handle packages for a regional area on behalf of one or more fulfillment centers.
A detailed listing of all Amazon Sortation Centers appears in the table below.
[画像:Amazon Sortation Center Network in USA]
The Amazon Air Gateway/Hub Network in the United States
Amazon currently operates a network of air gateway sortation centers across the United States. These facilities are typically located very close to airports being used to fly customer packages on Amazon Prime Air flights from one region of the country to another. At the air hub facilities, packages arrive from the nearby fulfillment center and they are placed into standard air cannisters that are loaded onto cargo planes late at night. The planes fly from each regional airport to the centroid of the country which is in Hebron, Kentucky where there is a central package sortation hub. The main hub sorts packages out by region and the planes are then loaded with packages for each of their respective regions such that they fly home with packages that were shipped from other Amazon Fulfillment Centers in the network. This is a hub and spoke system that is comprised of one central hub connected to 25 spokes whereby the spokes are various regional airports around the country. This is the foundation that enables Amazon to pick a customer order in Seattle and have it delivered to a customer in New York City within 1 - 2 days. As importantly, this is how Amazon can manage national package shipments with the Amazon Logistics platform rather than relying on UPS for FedEx for some (but not all) of their domestic shipping volume. As time goes by, Amazon is building out their Air Hub and Delivery Station networks to enable significantly increasing shipping volumes to be managed by Amazon rather than by third party carriers and needless to say, at a lower operating expense.
This massive logistics network is unique to Amazon in the sense that no other retailer in the world has developed such a concept quite simply because no other retailer has the scale to cost-effectively accomplish this logistics system. Looking ahead, without doubt, Amazon will build out a similar hub and spoke air network in Europe and the main hub will likely be located in the epicenter of the continent (e.g. close to Frankfurt Germany). This will enable a customer in Spain to receive an order picked in the United Kingdom within 24 - 48 hours of order placement. Looking further ahead, the connection of multiple air hubs will be next such that global markets can be connected and Amazon customers will be able to order products from other continents.
A detailed listing of all Amazon’s U.S. Air Gateway/Hub facilities appears in the table below.
[画像:Amazon Air Hub Network in USA]
The Amazon “Last Mile” Delivery Station Network for Small Packages in the United States
In late 2013, Amazon launched a build-out of its delivery station distribution network for small packages consisting of smaller facilities that are typically in the 100,000 to 140,000 sq. ft. range. Later in 2017 Amazon initiated a roll-out of the same concept for heavy/bulky merchandise weighing 60 - 300 Lbs and requiring white glove service. We now break those facilities out into their own data table below this one.
These last mile delivery facilities are designed to service a 45-mile radius and they are typically positioned within larger metropolitan cities across the country although this is starting to change as these facilities are now being opened up in smaller market areas. The delivery station's primary role is to sort packages for outbound routes to enable last mile delivery to customers within a tightly defined urban area. Often deliveries are performed by Amazon Delivery Service Partners with the Amazon Sprinter vans (or by multiple local courier companies that are contracted by Amazon to service specific routes though this appears to be less prevalent in the U.S.) and also by independent Amazon Flex drivers. Note that in the table below, if the square footage of the facility is set to zero then the operation is co-located in another building therefore we do not double-count the square footage.
The data concerning this network is challenging to track so we provide the best information available within the table below.
[画像:Amazon Delivery Station Network in USA Part 1]
[画像:Amazon Delivery Station Network in USA Part 2]
The Amazon “Last Mile” Delivery Station Network for Heavy/Bulky Merchandise in the United States
In 2017, Amazon initiated a roll-out of delivery stations for last mile delivery of heavy/bulky merchandise weighing 60 - 300 Lbs and requiring white glove service. We now break those facilities out within the table below.
[画像:Amazon Heavy Bulky Delivery Station Network in USA]
Notes:
Discussion on the Amazon North American Fulfillment Network:
Amazon's fulfillment network strategy is interesting because it does not necessarily reflect an optimized distribution network in terms of serving the U.S. population from the geographical locations that are closest to the markets served. Until 2013, fulfillment center locations in the U.S. were determined based on state tax considerations. Sales taxation laws vary from state to state within the country and since we are not experts on this topic, we thought it best to for more information on this topic. In short, Amazon sells most of its merchandise through fulfillment centers which are not technically classified as retail stores. As such, the company is technically within the letter of the law to not charge sales tax to consumers with the exception of five states. Over time, this has provided Amazon with a significant competitive advantage over conventional retailers that have retail stores since these companies must charge state taxes at the time of purchase (States lose an estimated 23ドル billion a year in uncollected sales taxes from web retailers). Currently 28 states have introduced Internet sales tax legislation that is already on the books with more states expected to follow shortly.
In the years leading up to 2013, Amazon invested significant capital into facilities in Arizona, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Indiana, Delaware, South Carolina and Virginia - all states that made tax collection deals with Amazon in exchange for agreements to guaranteed job creation targets over time.
Ultimately, Amazon stopped fighting the sales tax war as it was inevitable that its competitive tax advantage was not going to last forever. Today, Amazon collects taxes from Texas, California, New York and Florida and this will eventually apply to most states across the country. After all of the tax deals go into effect, Amazon will essentially be collecting sales taxes from the majority of American consumers. Amazon's tax capitulation is directly related to a major shift in the company logistics strategy. Instead of shipping to customers in highly populated urban centers from massive fulfillment centers constructed in faraway low cost states, Amazon has built out a vast distribution network fulfillment centers positioned close to large metropolitan cities. The new Amazon distribution strategy calls for the fastest level of order turnaround time (i.e. same day or next day) for all major cities within the United States. The goal is to enable same-day delivery as an option for at least half of its U.S. customers. Since the onset of the e-Commerce era, this goal has been a dream but the high cost of establishing the required distribution infrastructure has been a barrier towards achieving this goal. Amazon is now investing heavily to make fast response a reality and the build-out of the Prime Now Hub network will enable Amazon to service the top cities in America within 1 - 2 hours of order placement.
Amazon has also announced a strategy to make a move into the Grocery industry with home delivery service to be established in major metropolitan markets. Amazon Fresh is already established in Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The company has been rolling out Amazon Fresh and Amazon Pantry to numerous other large metropolitan cities to enable customers to order fresh food and dry grocery merchandise with same day delivery.
Lastly, it is important to note that Amazon has now established a U.S. distribution network of sortation centers that will enable the company to increase its control over the last mile delivery to the customer. Parcel shipments from nearby fulfillment centers are transferred to a regional sortation center where they are sorted by zip code and then transferred to neighborhood post offices so that the United States Postal Service can perform the delivery for a lower cost than the national parcel carriers (UPS and FedEx). This strategy enables Amazon to control the delivery process up to the last mile and it is also a key enabler to providing Sunday delivery in conjunction with USPS (this partnership was announced in November, 2013). For a detailed explanation of how the Amazon sortation network works click here.
The Amazon Fulfillment Network in the Rest of the World
Currently, Amazon operates fulfillment centers outside of the United States in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Japan, India and Australia. Also through its holdings in Souq, the company operates fulfillment centers in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Expansion into the Nordic countries is underway.
A detailed listing of existing and projected fulfillment centers appears in the table below. Most countries use a value added taxation (VAT) system to collect retail sales tax up front at the time of purchase hence the taxation issue does not impact Amazon's fulfillment network outside of the United States. Please note that the square footage figures below exclude mezzanine areas in most cases unless otherwise stated.
[画像:Amazon Fulfillment Center Network in Rest of World]
The Amazon Inbound Sortation Center, Outbound Sortation Center, Delivery Station, Air Hub and Prime Now Hub Network in the Rest of the World
Amazon has launched its first network of delivery stations in the UK since 2013 and the success of this program ultimately led to the expansion of the concept throughout the United States. In Europe, India, Japan and Singapore, the emergence of sortation centers, delivery stations and Prime Now Hubs is enabling rapid regional delivery capability. Our list of these facilities is undoubtedly incomplete but it is the best information that is currently available outside of Amazon.
[画像:Amazon ROW Network Part 1]
[画像:Amazon ROW Network Part 2]
Maps of Amazon USA and Rest of World Distribution Network
To view maps of Amazon’s Global Distribution Networkclick here.
Conclusions
Marc Wulfraat is the President of MWPVL International Inc. He can be reached by clicking here. MWPVL International provides supply chain / logistics network strategy consulting services. Our services include: distribution network strategy; distribution center design; material handling and automation design; supply chain technology consulting; product sourcing; 3PL Outsourcing; and purchasing; transportation consulting; and operational assessments.
Legal disclosure: MWPVL International Inc. does not represent or have a business relationship with Amazon. This is a research paper for supply chain educational purposes. The information assembled in this research paper is intended to provide the audience with intelligence on the subject of world class strategies for distribution networks. In preparing this material, MWPVL International Inc. has not disclosed any private or confidential company information. MWPVL International Inc. has made every effort to ensure that the information contained within this white paper is as accurate and as up to date as possible. However, it is important to note that distribution networks change over time and for this reason there is a possibility that information contained within this paper may be out of date or inaccurate. If you wish to submit any information to improve the quality of this white paper, please be sure to send us some feedback.
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