A step-by-step guide to choosing the right Amazon logistics solutions for your business

Business needs

Buried in overhead? Looking for fast shipping that maintains your brand identity? Tired of managing multiple providers, contracts, and hidden fees across the supply chain? Whether it’s one thing or everything, identifying your priorities provides clarity around the logistics capabilities needed to action on them. Lock those in before looking to solutions.

Customer needs

What are your customers telling you? Their persistent pain points? An easier way to track orders? The need for speed? Delivery that arrives on time, every time? Balancing these expectations with business priorities is a necessary step towards finding the right supply chain solutions to serve them all. Ignore one, and you’ll soon have a new pain point to address. But factor in both and it’s one less obstacle to operational efficiency and becoming a business that truly delivers. Once you’ve found that balance, it’s time to go solution shopping.

Transportation between third-party locations

The first leg of any supply chain is freight—moving products from manufacturers, suppliers, or distribution points to where they’re needed next. Amazon offers several services designed to handle freight at every scale and speed.

Amazon Freight

Ground freight

Explore full truckload, less-than-truckload, and intermodal options for reliable inventory transport to the Amazon network or third-party destinations.

What it offers

• Tech-backed transport: From route optimization to disruption management, Amazon’s tech innovation makes for smarter, safer, and more efficient shipments.
• Confident coverage: Broaden reach with a ground freight provider that supports a range of inventory, capacity, and supply types to help guarantee coverage, including 80K+ trailers and 24K+ containers
• Reduced complexity: Consolidate provider relationships with access to multiple modes with flexibility, including spot and dedicated contracts, all in one place.
• Adaptable network: Flex ground freight support as business needs change, including during seasonal peaks, company growth, or sourcing shifts.

Amazon Air Cargo

Air freight

Explore Amazon’s trusted air freight service for time-sensitive and specialized cargo needs, including reliable delivery across North America, LATAM, EMEA, and Asia via 100+ aircraft and 250+ daily flights.*

What it offers

• Flexible coverage: Ad hoc, charter, and blocked space services with a “no bumping” commitment.
• Priority service: Your cargo receives the same priority, care, and urgency Amazon gives customer packages.
• Built-in tech: Quick quotes and booking, plus real-time tracking backed by the tech that runs Amazon’s network.
• Careful handling: Specialty inventory support: pharmaceutical, temperature-sensitive, and dangerous goods.

*operated by Amazon carrier partners

Warehousing and fulfillment

Once goods are in motion, the next phase of the supply chain is inbounding them for fulfillment, placing product strategically, and getting orders to customers quickly. Amazon’s distribution and fulfillment services are designed to support businesses and optimize their inventory for maximum efficiency every step of the way.

Amazon Global Logistics

Cross-border logistics

Simplify import operations with all-inclusive ocean and air freight support from China directly to Amazon’s US fulfillment network. This global logistics service supports every step of your inventory’s international journey: origin pickup, cross-border shipping, customs clearance, and delivery to Amazon facilities.

What it offers

• Fast, reliable speed: Ship directly from 12 origin ports into the Amazon network for faster delivery and full flexibility, trusted by sellers.
• All-inclusive pricing: Boost profits with competitive pricing and increased efficiency, plus a discounted rate your first 60 days.
• Easy booking & tracking: Conveniently get a quote, book, track, and pay for shipments—now with even more digitized customs intake forms.
• End-to-end support: Amazon’s dedicated account team is backed by 10+ years of logistics expertise to support every step of your cargo’s journey across 400+ lanes and 240+ all-inclusive pickup regions.

Partner Carrier Program

Partner carrier network

Seamlessly move small parcel, full truckload, less-than-truckload, and intermodal ground shipments into Amazon’s distribution and fulfillment networks.

What it offers

• Streamlined booking: Book your shipments, manage and track orders, and get shipper support, all in one easy-to-use console.
• Smart carrier options: When booking, select your preferred carrier, mode, and freight ready date—or default to the lowest price selection.
• Flexible shipping modes: Choose from a variety of shipping modes, including small parcel, full or less-than-truckload, and intermodal.
• Hazmat shipping: Transport eligible dangerous goods (hazmat) into the Amazon fulfillment network across all shipping modes.

Amazon Warehousing and Distribution

Storage & distribution

Store bulk inventory cost-effectively within the Amazon network as long as you need, positioned close to demand, prepped for distribution, and automatically replenished over time. Need to send inventory elsewhere? Simplify distribution to channels beyond Amazon: your own or third-party warehouse, brick-and-mortar stores, and other destinations.

What it offers

• One inventory pool: Ship directly from origin into the Amazon network for faster delivery and full flexibility, trusted by sellers. Store once, distribute everywhere.
• Smart positioning: Auto-replenishment into Amazon’s fulfillment network based on demand patterns.
• Storage savings: Pay as you go with discounted bulk rates so you can scale and save all at once.
• Clear workflow: Reduce operational complexity with streamlined UI and managed services.

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)

Amazon store fulfillment

Amazon store fulfillment enables you to outsource fulfillment to Amazon and offer customers free, two-day shipping through Prime. Send products into Amazon’s global network of fulfillment centers for pick, pack, and ship support, plus customer service and returns handling.

What it offers

• Reduce operational complexity: Instead of spending time processing orders, handling customer inquiries, and managing returns, use Amazon order fulfillment to focus on developing products and delighting customers.
• Consolidate inventory: Easily fulfill orders for your Amazon store—and anywhere else your customers may be shopping—with a single pool of inventory.
• Grow your business: The Amazon network includes hundreds of fulfillment centers worldwide and can help you reach customers around the globe.
• Increase sales: Use this service to deliver orders with the speed and reliability customers love. That can help you increase sales and repeat purchases.

Amazon Multichannel Fulfillment (MCF)

Multichannel fulfillment

Leverage Amazon’s operational expertise to pick, pack, and ship customer orders across all your non-Amazon sales channels, backed by a robust physical and digital network.

What it offers

• Reliable fulfillment: Use Amazon’s fulfillment network to deliver orders quickly and reliably across 11 countries (Standard: in 3 business days; Expedited: in 2 business days). MCF holds a 96.4% average on-time delivery rate.¹
• Consolidated inventory: Serving multiple sales channels with one pool of inventory makes for greater efficiency and reduced likelihood of excess supply or stockouts.
• Ecommerce performance: Showcase your fast delivery speeds on Google Shopping ads and your site’s product pages with MCF fast badges, boosting conversions and enhancing customer confidence.
• Streamlined operations: Streamline your order fulfillment process, from online checkout to customer doorstep, by integrating existing platforms and partners with Amazon’s 100+ apps and APIs.

¹_{Based on all worldwide orders placed and delivered between October 2024 and September 2025, and measuring the percentage of orders that were delivered on or before the estimated delivery date generated upon order confirmation.}

Delivery

Getting an order to a customer’s door is the final—and often most visible—part of the supply chain. Amazon’s ground shipping capabilities make that last step not just faster, but more reliable, too.

Amazon Shipping

Parcel shipping

Reach shoppers when and where it matters: Amazon delivers across your sales channels—every day, tracked, and on time—from warehouse to customers’ welcome mats.

What it offers

• Track every step: Get GPS-powered visibility from pickup to doorstep with photo-on-delivery verification, so you and your customers always know where a package is.
• Ship from anywhere: Sell on multiple platforms? Ship from your own or third-party facility with one solution to cover them all for a consistent customer experience.
• Count on consistency: Your customers get reliable 2–5-day ground shipping across the contiguous US, 7 days a week—fast enough to keep them coming back.
• Grow without limits: Amazon delivers 13B+ items annually—including to rural and hard-to-reach areas—to help you serve more customers in more places.

Amazon Supply Chain Services brings together transportation, warehousing, fulfillment, and parcel shipping under one connected network—powered by predictive tools and real-time visibility that reduce disruptions and improve reliability. The added benefit of this system is the more services you use, the more efficiency you gain.

Storing inventory in the Amazon network makes it easier—and automatic—to replenish supply when it’s lower than demand. Air freight can step in when there isn’t time for intermodal transport. Using Amazon fulfillment for all your sales channels means added efficiency, fewer stockouts, and increased sales by pulling from a shared pool of inventory. The list can go on, and so can the benefits. Individual services are powerful on their own—but the real advantage comes when they work together.

Take Amazon’s Distribution & Fulfillment solution, which combines inbound transportation with storage, distribution, and fulfillment capabilities to create a seamless connection between different legs of the supply chain, all for your gain. Several steps of the supply chain, all under one system for added efficiency. Bringing these services together also makes for more stable stock and greater cost-savings to businesses.

Connecting distribution and fulfillment with ASCS makes for:

• 12% average improvement in inventory turnover fulfilling from a single pool¹
• 30% fewer stock-outs in FBA²
• 19% average increase in sales when using MCF for other retail channels³
• 20% savings on storage costs with Amazon Managed Service rates⁴

Then there’s Amazon’s fulfillment and delivery options. When considered separately, businesses can use MCF to outsource storage, picking, packing, and shipping through Amazon’s fulfillment network across sales channels (social platforms, Shopify, other marketplaces) with unbranded packaging and delivery in 2-3 business days, a great fit for those wanting to be hands-off with their fulfillment process. Or they can leverage Amazon’s parcel shipping service, which includes 2-5 day ground shipping and features like photo on delivery, custom and branded packaging, and zero residential surcharges, preferred for those with established warehouse infrastructure. However, when combined, these benefits stack up:

• If a business is using MCF to extend the use of inventory already in the Amazon network to other channels, adding ASCS’ parcel shipping service into the mix covers product types not supported in that network, giving maximum inventory flexibility.
• If a business is using Amazon’s parcel shipping service to deliver from that business’ regional warehouse, adopting MCF can fill the geographic gaps in regions where that shipper doesn’t have warehouse coverage. This reduces long-distance shipping costs while maintaining broad coverage. A win-win for your business and customers.

So, whether a business wants to outsource their fulfillment or just their ground shipping, Amazon’s network makes it easy, including if there’s interest in leveraging the benefits of both.

¹ _{Based on trailing twelve-month data from 590,000 sellers who shipped more than 100 units with FBA throughout 2023, comparing performance between sellers using both MCF and FBA versus those using FBA only.} ² _{Based on Q4 2025 results} ³ _{Based on responses from 224 merchants to the February 2025 MCF Customer survey.} ⁴ _{According to Jan 15, 2026 rate card}

Finding the right logistics solutions for your needs means understanding your business, your customer, and what you want for the future. With so many ways to approach supply chain challenges, it can be difficult to know which move is the right one. Knowing your business priorities and how you want to show up in supply chain is a good first step. Backing your business with the right supply chain partner to deliver on those priorities is a great second.

Amazon Supply Chain Services brings first to last-mile support to businesses everywhere through reliable, flexible, and scalable services that lead to better visibility, less complexity, and ultimately, growth. From individual to integrated solutions, there’s something in ASCS for everyone, so whichever services a business chooses, there’s only opportunity to gain.