The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google

by Scott Galloway

In early 2016, Amazon was given a license by the Federal Maritime Commission to implement ocean freight services as an Ocean Transportation Intermediary. So, Amazon can now ship others’ goods. This new service, dubbed Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), won’t do much directly for individual consumers. But it will allow Amazon’s Chinese partners to more easily and cost-effectively get their products across the Pacific in containers. Want to bet how long it will take Amazon to dominate the oceanic transport business?72 The market to ship stuff (mostly) across the Pacific is a $350 billion business, but a low-margin one. Shippers charge $1,300 to ship a forty-foot container holding up to 10,000 units of product (13 cents per unit, or just under $10 to deliver a flat-screen TV). It’s a down-and-dirty business, unless you’re Amazon. The biggest component of that cost comes from labor: unloading and loading the ships and the paperwork. Amazon can deploy hardware (robotics) and software to reduce these costs. Combined with the company’s cargo fleet, this could prove another huge business for Amazon.73 Between drones, 757/767s, tractor trailers, trans-Pacific shipping, and retired military generals (no joke) who oversaw the world’s most complex logistics operations (try supplying submarines and aircraft carriers that don’t surface or dock more than once every six months), Amazon is building the most robust logistics infrastructure in history. If you’re like me, this can only leave you in...

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