That dramatically cuts Amazon's delivery costs, and it's the most obvious explanation of why Amazon flipped its position on online sales taxes in 2011, from the leading opponent to a major supporter: All those warehouses give Amazon a big advantage over e-commerce rivals, and it doesn't want them to have a sales-tax advantage in return.
The e-tail giant will also increase its overseas DC count from 43 to 48.
Having bricks on the ground almost as close to customers as retailers themselves means more than cheap delivery. It means Amazon has almost complete control of when it will flip the switch for same-day delivery as a standard option.
