One of the biggest stories from the 2013 holiday season wasnt about the gifts people received, it was the ones they didn’t. Delivery companies were inundated with packages and failed to deliver thousands of them. Some of these overdue packages did not arrive until after the New Year, leading to many disappointed customers.

As can be expected, this logistical issue adds to the desire of companies like Amazon to start handling their own deliveries. It just so happens that even before the holiday snafu, Amazon was working on a multi-pronged new type of delivery system. The plans include:

“Sunday delivery in a number of markets including New York and San Francisco (https://agbeat.com/business-news/amazon-may-handle-deliveries-rocky-holiday-season/)

“Amazon lockers, which are like automated PO Boxes (https://www.engadget.com/2011/10/17/amazon-lockers-come-to-nyc-no-more-getting-caught-by-ups-in-you/)

“A new $200 million distribution center in Kenosha, Wisconsin (https://www.jsonline.com/business/amazon-plans-second-kenosha-facility-575-more-jobs-b99165893z1-236309671.html)

“The much publicized Amazon testing of drones to deliver packages
(https://www.amazon.com/b?node=8037720011)

The key with all these changes is to find a way to streamline the entire delivery process. It is hard to imagine completely bypassing well-known delivery companies in favor of an in-house offering, but that seems to be the goal of Amazon. Even without such an ambitious plan, its exciting to watch the online retail giant continue to grow. The Kenosha-based Amazon distribution center is expected to create 1,100 jobs by early 2015. That fact, combined with the additional delivery options on the table is a perfect example of how the U.S. economy is finally rebounding and investing in the future of shipping and logistics.