--- title: Amazon is proving there are pros and cons to being its own best customer - The Hustle description: Amazon’s logistics unit has made the company indispensable this holiday season, but AWS outages could ruin the fun. image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/644094014-News-Brief_2021-12-10T020922.197Z.webp --- # Amazon is proving there are pros and cons to being its own best customer ![Rob Litterst](https://thehustle.co/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Rob-Litterst-pic.png?width=48&height=48&name=Rob-Litterst-pic.png) [Rob Litterst](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/rob-litterst) [Rob Litterst Twitter profile ](https://twitter.com/robbylit) Published: December 10, 2021 Updated: October 11, 2023 Amazon loves creating products, then being its own [first and best customer](https://stratechery.com/2017/amazons-new-customer/). This holiday season is proving that strategy can be a gift and a curse. ![Amazon is proving there are pros and cons to being its own best customer](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/644094014-News-Brief_2021-12-10T020922.197Z.webp?width=595&height=400&name=644094014-News-Brief_2021-12-10T020922.197Z.webp) Take 2 products where Amazon employs this strategy: Amazon Logistics and Amazon Web Services (AWS). #### **Amazon Logistics has made the company indispensable for holiday shopping** While many retailers have been in [crisis mode](https://www.businessinsider.com/supply-chain-holiday-shopping-retailers-panic-order-2021-10) due to global supply chain issues, Amazon’s integrated logistics and delivery network has left the company relatively unscathed. That’s due in part to the company’s transportation investments since 2013, which include [growing](https://thehustle.co/11302021-amazon-delivery/) its delivery fleet to: - **400k** delivery drivers - **40k** semis and **30k** vans - **70+** planes It also includes Amazon’s investments in freight forwarding, which means playing a middleman role in the trans-Pacific supply chain, such as buying guaranteed space on cargo ships years in advance. These investments are paying huge dividends now — helping Amazon avoid chaos at the ports, and allowing the firm to [offer](https://stratechery.com/2021/the-amazon-empire-strikes-back/?access_token=eyJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiIsImtpZCI6InN0cmF0ZWNoZXJ5LnBhc3Nwb3J0Lm9ubGluZSIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJhdWQiOiJzdHJhdGVjaGVyeS5wYXNzcG9ydC5vbmxpbmUiLCJlbnQiOnsidXJpIjpbImh0dHBzOi8vc3RyYXRlY2hlcnkuY29tLzIwMjEvdGhlLWFtYXpvbi1lbXBpcmUtc3RyaWtlcy1iYWNrLyJdfSwiZXhwIjoxNjQxMzg1ODIxLCJpYXQiOjE2Mzg3OTM4MjEsImlzcyI6Imh0dHBzOi8vc3RyYXRlY2hlcnkucGFzc3BvcnQub25saW5lL29hdXRoIiwic2NvcGUiOiJhcnRpY2xlOnJlYWQgY2F0ZWdvcnk6cmVhZCIsInN1YiI6IjZ6dEZZY0pOR1RBcUhDcW1yZzdxeG8iLCJ1c2UiOiJhY2Nlc3MifQ.mTosz-VDqmiaRX-57qIGQBgJplJFNSWk_kIMWU0PYetvbOAsN7IsC1dhxZRty-_2TzSsCetHYoWbliGdmqEYZDTdFyX47T9wisM7HnrRhbiL1vUA-PWch80hLq6paxOkO36vBu1GhI_qkki_mYkYa-SScjDFUS6z2qkvMyPsetqu9DmLcAugUgkMHkNeeJOYxEV9cSzSgBVJWZs3tOsmbRdmPoPPBJ-U7vD4NMOska7DusKgvWOz3aDR3SWH64jTJkOa9MUOH6jen1LPJe4kYn54ctVtf51hnbWOBaw8dgKcB27KV-vdJTERvrwDxqdv0hZDtx5OJm63tW49yqC5SA) 3rd-party merchants space at **⅓ the price** of other freight forwarders. #### **On the other hand, there’s AWS…** … which suffered a widespread [outage](https://www.businessinsider.com/west-coast-amazon-delivery-drivers-sent-home-after-aws-outage-2021-12) on Tuesday. The outage impacted everyone from individual consumers to tech’s biggest players (e.g., Netflix, Spotify, and Zoom). But the company hit the hardest? Amazon itself. - The outage impacted Amazon’s routing software, leaving delivery drivers unable to deliver packages for the day - It also caused Amazon’s ecommerce site to [experience](https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-aws-outage-cause-problem-with-network-device-traffic-virginia-2021-12) glitches and slow loading times during prime holiday shopping hours #### **The outage has since been resolved…** … but it likely won’t be the last. In the last 12 months, Amazon has [experienced](https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/amazons-prime-ring-other-apps-down-thousands-users-2021-12-07/) **27** outages across its services. The biggest victims of the outage may be Amazon’s delivery drivers, who — already dealing with a 36-hour package [backlog](https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-aws-outage-delivery-network-delays-holiday-shopping-backlog-2021-12) at fulfillment centers — now have to make up for lost time. In other words, for Amazon Logistics to live up to its billing as a Christmas miracle, it may have to overcome its own version of the Grinch. 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