Pandemic brings fortunes to Amazon – and headaches too
In this Dec. 17, 2019, photo Amazon packages move along a conveyor prior to Amazon robots transporting packages from workers to chutes that are organized by zip code, at an Amazon warehouse facility in Goodyear, Ariz. Much of the boom in warehouse robotics has its roots in Amazon's $775 million purchase of Massachusetts startup Kiva Systems in 2012. The tech giant re-branded it as Amazon Robotics and transformed it into an in-house laboratory that for seven years has been designing and building Amazon's robot armada. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Amazon has spent years honing the business of packing, shipping and delivering millions of products to doorsteps around the world.
Now it has a captive audience.
With much of the globe in various stages of a lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic, the world’s largest online retailer has become a lifeline to many shoppers.
But it is also grappling with delivery delays and mounting complaints from workers who worry about contagion while on the job.
Online research company Comscore reports that Amazon’s website hit 2.54 billion visitors for the entire month of March.
That marks a 65% jump from the same period last year.
