Inside Amazon: Secrets of an Online Mega-Giant

so what did you do at work today chances are good that on this Cyber Monday there was some point click and by going on a record-breaking 1.5 billion dollars worth of merchandise is expected to have been ordered online today and no one ships more orders than Amazon it's a company known for its competitiveness and its secrecy but ABC's Neil Carlin ski was allowed inside to see the Amazon magic this is what the world of Amazon looks like on Cyber Monday capitalism on parade Nightline was invited in for a rare glimpse at one of its 80 huge fulfillment centers rity giclees sprinkled around the globe what down the aisle here that's a lot of stuff to find out what happens when you point click and buy a process that follows miles of conveyor belts inside a massive building like this but first an experiment they say this is the hot video game I'm gonna order it we place an order just dance for if all goes according to plan we'll follow it from the Shelf to my doorstep let's go see if it shows up in here this 1.2 million square-foot Amazon warehouse is the unseen shopping mall that never closes it occurs to me it's kind of funny it's sort of like Noah's Ark I mean you sort of have one of everything around here I mean soccer ball Hello Kitty we got a backpack a tablecloth carry as much as we can Josh Teater a Homer military intelligence officer is the center's general manager meaning he's a little bit like an air-traffic and true lover for online shopping you know I tried to do a search to see if I could find something that you wouldn't have I looked I searched for a pink tuxedo and you guys have a pink tuxedo available well I guess you're not the only one that wants it you watch as my order pops up on a scanner gets plucked from a shelf by hand and then dropped into a bar coated yellow bin this is the one you bought and it is that will arrive at your house in a couple days the Amazon people let us draw a smiley face on our bin so we can follow it on a wild ride through a winding maze Amazon recently added a small army of extra workers in these fulfillment centers just to handle the holidays all those electronics tie-dye fashion kits and heated pet bowls that absolutely must get out the door and fast is it a pressure cooker working in here it gets very busy at this time and and folks work hard for sure but we bring in help we're hiring 50,000 seasonal employees to help meet that demand amazon has faced serious complaints that workers are pushed to the limit in tough conditions safety is number one with us these are well-paying jobs we pay 30% more than traditional retail sorry to interrupt what do you got going on here Oh shipping things out to people somebody's getting a happy Hannah Montana camera you quickly learn walking the aisles here that Amazon is barcode heaven everything has a code a code to find it to ship it to track it but how can they have everything from medieval chain mail to clock oil and binocular magnifying glasses on hand at all times only part of the answer is huge inventory the other part comes from small business owners like dan o'donnell whose tiny jewelry supply store which sells that clock oil has exploded by selling through Amazon meaning their stuff shows up on Amazon's website and Amazon gets a cut of the action right now we have about 150,000 SKU so we offer on Amazon a hundred and fifty thousand items just from you just from us yes the company doesn't only sell just about everything it uses sophisticated programs to track your online habits a fully customized shopping experience to not only match prices but increasingly match your desires we have teams of super smart people who build out algorithms to create personalized recommendations for our customers I don't even know what this is but despite the huge inventory and third-party sellers Amazon still can't guarantee the lowest prices so consumers are urged to shop around meanwhile our happy yellow bin shows up right on cue it's traveled about a mile since we saw it last and now it's nearing the end as it is pulled off and boxed we add a message inside just to make sure what shows up really is the same item all right I'll see this at home 48 hours later here it is a box was sitting on my doorstep crack it open and there's our game and it's our message happy holidays from ABC News they may call it cyber monday but at Amazon it never ends I'm yokai Lensky for Nightline in Phoenix

Channel: ABC News

Views: 2,843,847

Keywords: amazon, cyber, monday, black, friday, christmas, holiday, shopping, secrets, tips, Neal Karlinsky, Nightline, ABC, ABCNews, News, US, Business

Id: zknLfU7GJIw

Length: 4min 52sec (292 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 27 2012