Millions of consumers shop on Amazon every day, with an extensive collection of products ranging from electronics to groceries and everything in between.
While selecting items for your Amazon order, you may have wondered where does Amazon ship from? I was wondering the same thing, so I did my research, and here’s everything I discovered!
Where Does Amazon Ship From?
Amazon ships globally from 185 fulfillment centers, with 110 centers in the U.S. and others across North America, Europe, and Australia. Collectively, Amazon has over 150 million square feet of warehouse space where Amazon brand orders are fulfilled, as well as many Amazon Marketplace orders from third-party sellers.
If you’re curious about the details of Amazon’s shipping practices and fulfillment centers, keep reading for all the facts.
How Many Fulfillment Centers Does Amazon Have?
Amazon started with two fulfillment centers in Seattle and Delaware. That was back in 1997 when Amazon was starting out, and the fulfillment centers were quite small.
Nowadays, Amazon’s ultra-efficient warehouses are equipped with all the latest and greatest technology, spanning about 800,000 square feet.
There are 110 Amazon fulfillment centers in the continental U.S., and Amazon has warehouses in every corner of the country, plus fulfillment centers across Canada and Mexico.
Every year, Amazon announces further expansion with plans for additional facilities, creating more jobs, and opening up more services and delivery coverage in the process.
While Amazon is based in the U.S. and the business has grown from the ground up in North America, it’s now a global operation.
Fulfillment centers in the U.K., Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America bring the overall total to 185, which is expected to grow in years to come.
How Do Amazon Fulfillment Centers Work?
Amazon has streamlined its delivery process to keep the vast majority of its inventory at fulfillment centers.
Bestselling products are kept in stock across all regions to ensure Amazon can fulfill its strict order delivery requirements.
In addition to sophisticated layouts, fulfillment centers have thousands of staff working around the clock to send out orders as quickly as possible.
Every time an order is placed – which happens millions of times every day – warehouse staff is alerted to begin the fulfillment process.
Orders are prepared as quickly as possible with Amazon packaging and then arranged for road or air freight delivery, depending on the selected shipping speed.
Where Does Amazon Ship Third-Party Products From?
For Fulfilled by Amazon orders, Amazon receives stock from third-party Marketplace retailers and then prepares and ships orders on their behalf.
This is another way of ensuring satisfactory fulfillment as much as possible and speeds up what could otherwise be weeks-long or even months in shipping times for some overseas sellers.
Not all Marketplace items go through Amazon’s fulfillment center process, however.
Some sellers handle the shipping and distribution themselves, although generally, it takes longer.
Because of this, your Amazon order could technically come from anywhere in the world, so always check shipping times and prices before clicking confirm order.
If you want to know more about Amazon’s shipping services, you can also read our related posts on whether or not Amazon ships to Alaska, if Amazon ships to Hawaii, and how late does Amazon delivers.
Conclusion
Since 1997, when Amazon’s first fulfillment centers were established in Seattle and Delaware, the company has grown to be one of the Fortune 500 leaders.
Today, Amazon has an impressive network of fulfillment centers across the continental U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America.
Amazon ships directly from these fulfillment centers to fulfill orders as quickly as possible.
Both Amazon branded products and millions of third-party Marketplace orders are Fulfilled By Amazon for fast and reliable shipping.
