Amazon was founded in 1994 and since then it has gone from a small business to become the world’s largest retailer in the world. They have come a long way since the early days of the company and have heavily invested in technology and distribution to gain a competitive edge. Their latest development is delivery by drones which will speed up the process and help to increase automation.
Amazon has created and is testing drones now for a number of years. The founder, Jeff Bezos back in 2013 said that one-day automated vehicles and drone delivery will be seen as the norm. With car and drone automation over the last few years starting to become a reality, it looks like his prediction will become true.
In the U.S Amazon has been at battle with regulators and the government who are not in favor of drone delivery due to the risks involved. In Great Britain however, it has been welcomed so they have moved their drone delivery testing to Cambridge in the UK.
Amazon does not like to discuss their future plans in too many details as they are worried that one of their competitors may take advantage. It is a very secretive company but they have set up Amazon Prime delivery which purpose is to overcome the challenges of delivering items by drones along with other automated vehicles.
It is not the technology that Amazon will face as its biggest hurdles. Its main challenge is to get new laws passed which will take a long time due to the company covering worldwide delivery services. The current regulation in place allows for commercial drones to operate as long as they are within line of sight of the operators.
Amazon has a huge team of lobbyists that they are spending millions on, in the hope that they can change the regulator’s views. If they can get enough backing from Government and regulatory bodies, the future of delivery will be changed forever. It is not just Amazon who are trying to overcome regulatory challenges, both Google and now Wal-Mart have entered the space so it seems inevitable that over the coming years this technology will become the norm.
The British Government and aviation regulators have welcomed Amazon and the company is now carrying out many tests in the UK of the drone technology. Britain hopes to become the world leader in this new tech and by offering favorable terms to companies such as Amazon they hope it will give them the competitive edge.
As well as tests being carried out in the UK, Amazon is also testing drone delivery in Israel, Holland, and Canada. With the U.S not allowing extensive testing, it is likely that the drone delivery service will be implemented elsewhere first before the U.S will allow it to take place on their soil.
Conclusion
It looks like it will be a several years before Amazon Prime Air will fully take off but it is almost certain at some point in the near future. There are lots of different regulations to overcome first which will add to the time delay of it been fully implemented. Over the last 24 months, some countries have loosened their regulations which will help speed up the process of it becoming a reality. Until such a day arrives we will just have to settle for the current two-day shipping time.