Retail Domination - Behind the Scenes at Amazon

Amazon is increasing its share of many consumer retail segments in the UK and it is fast becoming an almost dominant player in the market for seasonal demand at Christmas. In this Telegraph article, we get a behind-the-scenes perspective on the scale and complexity of the Amazon retail opportunity here in the UK. The capacity of Amazon to process so many orders so accurately really is quite staggering, particularly given the volume of customer orders that are processed at the busiest time in the run-up to Christmas. I particularly noted the role that complex search algorithms play in organising the way that orders are picked and despatched. A key economy of scale is that the same technology is used in all Amazon's distribution centres worldwide.An earlier article in the Telegraph explained how Amazon UK is expected to recruit around 10,000 temporary staff this Christmas, with the best-performing staff being asked to become permanent employees as new distribution centres are opened.