To adapt to never-ending ecommerce demand, warehouses are evolving
Packages that magically appear at your door... are actually the result of a million scrambling parts. While it only takes a few clicks to order something online, America's shipping infrastructure can only handle so many packages — and one element of the ecommerce supply chain is getting stretched extra hard: Warehouses.
Your tiny pack of toilet paper takes up prime real estate... Warehouses store the TP on the way to you, but there's hardly enough space for that. We've added 1B-square-feet of warehouses in America since 2013, but vacancy at the "hotel" where your packages chill before coming to you has hit an all-time low. And the price for warehouse space keeps rising.
Ecommerce is starting to change how cities are built... And you know we need a better urban design strategy when Old Navy has to partner with Postmates to deliver last-minute Christmas gifts. Here's what we're already seeing:
- "The Airbnb for warehousing": Startups CubeWork, Flexe, and Flowspace offer up short-term space for retailers that need to deliver.
- Delivery districts: DC is experimenting with entire package drop-off zones (nothing builds traffic like double-parked delivery trucks).
- Vertical warehouses: The first 3-story warehouse in Seattle is now transforming deliveries from days to hours (a 4-story one is heading to Brooklyn).
- Extra-vertical warehouses: Asia already has 20-story warehouses.