Free One-Day Shipping Is Costing Amazon a Fortune
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) decided last year to offer Prime members free next-day shipping on much of what the company sells through its online marketplace. Has the decision actually paid off? The global coronavirus pandemic deprioritized the question earlier this year, and the response to COVID-19 itself has been anything except "business as usual."
On the other hand, Amazon's shift in focus to only essential consumer items hasn't altered its typical delivery costs. It's simply scaled them up, in step with heightened demand for online ordering options.
Once the coronavirus contagion makes its way toward the rearview mirror and things (more or less) get back to normal, investors will find the monarch of e-commerce is still spending a relative fortune on its free shipping strategy.
Source Fool.com