No more warehouses will be built in 2 years! Amazon completely stops planning new warehouses in this country

Yesterday ( September 19), foreign media revealed that Amazon has suspended the construction of new warehouses in Spain and will maintain a "wait-and-see" attitude for two years, until 2024.

In fact, Amazon's suspension of new warehouse construction in Spain is part of a global transformation to cope with inflation and a decline in consumer demand for online shopping after the epidemic. With inflation soaring, the inflation rate in Spain is about 10.5%, and the impact of the epidemic, Amazon has been forced to readjust its logistics expansion strategy.

The demand for online shopping that grew during the pandemic has gradually declined by 2022, and Amazon's corresponding expansion plans have also slowed down. According to Yien's previous report, Amazon has closed 66 warehouses in the United States this year and postponed the opening of 24 facilities.

It is reported that Amazon has made a lot of investments in Spain in recent years. From 2010 to 2020, Amazon has invested more than 6.8 billion euros to develop its business in Amazon. In 2021 alone, Amazon opened more than 20 operation centers in Spain. In 2022, Amazon also opened a new logistics station, Amazon Fresh Center and a logistics center in Spain.

Data from consulting firm MWPVL International shows that there are currently 60 warehouses in Spain, with three planned for expansion in the future, which means that Amazon has suspended three planned warehouses in Spain.

According to foreign media reports, Amazon's move will mainly affect the last mile area in Spain, as well as Murcia, Zaragoza, Vitoria, San Sebastian, Asturias, Vigo, Seville, Girona and Reus (Tarragona).

In June this year, Amazon said it planned to add 2,000 new jobs in Spain in 2022, bringing its total number of employees in Spain to around 20,000. Although Amazon has suspended the construction of new warehouses in Spain, it said its commitment to Spain remains and it will continue to fulfill that commitment and have around 25,000 permanent employees in Spain by 2025.

However, changes in the global economic situation have affected Amazon's plan to expand its team in Spain. In order to offset the impact of supply chain problems, inflation and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in 2022, Amazon has increased the price of its Prime subscription. Taking Spain as an example, as of September 15, the price of Prime subscription in Spain has risen from 36 euros per year to 49.90 euros; the monthly price has jumped from 3.99 euros to 4.99 euros. Whether Amazon can fulfill this promise in the future still needs time to verify.

In addition to Spain, according to MWPVL, Amazon currently has operation centers in other parts of Europe, such as the UK, France, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Among them, there are 13 warehouses planned to be expanded in the UK, 5 in France, 11 in Germany, 4 in Italy, and 1 in the Czech Republic. If the influencing factors still persist, Amazon may continue to close some planned warehouses.

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