Amazon is a logistical disaster

Size caused by chaos. All companies hit the critical moment, when their internal structures, like a teenager's old shoes, no longer matched. But Amazon has gone through a severe form of this rite of passage. The bigger and more ambitious she became, the more complex her structure became and the harder it was to keep everyone coordinated and fast. Bezos wanted to implement several strategies simultaneously, but the different interdependent divisions of society were losing too much time to coordinate. In the distribution centers, chaos was not an ethereal thing, but a tangible reality, which resulted in frequent system failures that could shut down the facilities for hours and piles of ubiquitous floor-standing products ignored by workers.

Stone wrote about 2002 as the company emerged from the Internet bubble as a retail specialist. But that is still true to a large extent. Through the work of executive Jeff Wilke and others, Amazon overcame many of its logistical issues at the beginning of the trip to ensure a two-day expedition. Others, however, have arisen with almost every expansion, from the race to one day's expedition to the acquisition of Whole Foods.

Recent surveys of BuzzFeed and The New York Times show that Amazon drivers killed a number of pedestrians while they ran for deliveries. Although Amazon tells them where to go and sets routes and deadlines, drivers and contractors are held accountable in case of an accident and the company refuses to assume its responsibilities. The taxation conditions his drivers face are reminiscent of his warehouses, which had been receiving negative attention for years. In warehouses and distribution centers, as well as for drivers, every movement is monitored. Basic necessities, such as breaks in the toilet, are strictly limited. Despite the growing pressure, Amazon has done little to improve these conditions, continuing to push workers, mostly non-employees of Amazon but hired by subcontractors, in a race to command to respond to a torrent more more importantly. The streets of the city are now cluttered with Amazon delivery vehicles and New York's sidewalks are regularly being transformed into ad hoc satellite warehouses, stacked with boxes.

His online store is increasingly heavy and unusable. Last year, Katie Notopolous, of BuzzFeed, wrote, "Have you ever tried searching on Amazon for an everyday product offered in a ton of options, like diapers? It's a nightmare: all quantities matter, the different sellers. Diapers are the kind of thing that people love to buy at Amazon, but it's like diving into a war zone. Scams are multiplying at an alarming rate. Investigations of The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times
found that Amazon was teeming with imitations, counterfeits, and dangerous and illegal items. You can buy a 1984 copy of George Orwell that completely changes the meaning of the text.

Which brings us back to Wills. There is a simple explanation for what happened. Amazon received books from Penguin Random House and sent them immediately – according to sources in the publishing industry, what they do with all pre-orders, regardless of their date of sale or, in this case, embargoes. Amazon reason to be It's speed at all costs – products must travel the entire supply chain as quickly as possible. The company simply is not able to function otherwise.

In the case of Atwood's novel, the costs are relatively minimal. While neither the supplier nor the retailer relied on a week of bad press to hail the publication of the hottest book of the year, the news cycle will pass. But the bigger problem is getting worse. Amazon has been on the path of growth at all costs for years. This year, it finally seems to have encountered a problem of its own: the refusal of the company to invest in infrastructure to the extent of its own ambitions. From overloaded warehouse staff to exhausted drivers driving unsecured vans, to occasional inattention to booking embargoes, it is clear that Amazon gives priority to corporate strategy, even when warranties are suppliers, contractors and its own employees mean less than ever.