Last-minute holiday shoppers may want to take a closer look at their digital carts as Amazon workers remain on strike over the last weekend before Christmas.
Amazon says customers can expect their packages to arrive on time, but logistics experts warn some shipments could experience minor delays as thousands of workers have been on strike in California, Georgia, Illinois and New York since Thursday.
Most Amazon customers won’t be affected because the company has a large number of facilities, said Satish Jindel, president of ShipMatrix, a software provider that tracks delivery data from package shippers.
“They will have the ability to ship products from other locations. They will not be closed,” he said. “Some packages that might have taken a day to be delivered will now take two. Some that may have taken two days will take three. But there won’t be that many.”
Amazon customers may notice that some items have an “Arrive Before Christmas” message attached to their order.
Amazon workers and supporters participate in a strike organized by the Teamsters union at the Amazon factory in the Queens borough of New York City on December 20. -Adam Gray/Reuters
Amazon said in October it would hire 250,000 transportation and warehouse workers for the size of this season’s shipping, as holiday spending was expected to rise as much as 3.5% from last year — a total of $989 billion .
However, according to the National Retail Federation, in early December only 10% of consumers reported that they had completely finished shopping. Between the Saturday before Christmas and December 25, about 157.2 million shoppers would complete their holiday shopping, the National Retail Federation estimates.
“Whether shoppers have their shopping lists planned or wait until the last minute, most shoppers still need to make purchases before December 25,” said Phil Rist, executive vice president of strategy at Prosper Insights & Analytics, which conducts the Federation’s National Retail Consumer Survey in December.
More than half of Americans are concerned about deliveries being delayed this holiday season, according to an October survey by Badcredit.org.
The shorter period between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year could play a role in last-minute shopping. With five fewer days than normal between the two holidays, the National Retail Federation estimated that more shoppers would head to stores and do deals online on the Saturday before Christmas than last year.
According to the National Retail Federation, more consumers plan to complete their purchases online (49%) than department stores (37%), discount stores (27%) or clothing and accessories stores (25%).
CNN’s Chris Isidore and Erika Tulfo contributed to this report.
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