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Amazon Expands into New Category
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Seattle-based Amazon is pushing into retail space previously dominated by Wayfair Inc. and Williams-Sonoma Inc.’s Pottery Barn. The giant e-commerce retailer is seeking to capture more furniture and appliance sales by broadening its product offering to include Ashley Furniture sofas and Jonathan Adler home décor, as well as adding custom-furniture design services.
To support that endeavor, Amazon plans to develop four massive warehouses capable of handling bulkier products. The company also plans to expedite delivery times to one or two days in some cities. Furniture is one of the fastest-growing segments of online sales in the U.S., growing 18% in 2015.
Shipping what is called “ugly” items is a challenge, because they tend to gum up freight and carrier operations. Pilot Freight Services and XPO Logistics Inc. have moved to fill a void by UPS and FedEx, whose distribution centers are designed to quickly process millions of small packages.
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