C&S Grocers and Amazon

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Modern Business

6 min readMar 4, 2022

Companies are coming up with innovative ways to improve their operations’ efficiency and cut down the cost of doing business. Key among these strategies is the elimination of intermediaries in the process of distributing their products to final consumers. Traditionally, companies used a supply chain system that comprised various players, including wholesalers and retailers, before the manufactured product could reach the final consumer. The distribution channels effectively ensured that the final goods reached consumers in the farthest ends of the market. However, these intermediaries were also disadvantageous to the company as they bloated the product’s final price, such that when it reached the markets, it was too expensive to compete with other substitutes. Companies such as Amazon and C&S Grocers are leading in the list of companies embracing the self-distribution model and eliminating intermediaries in their supply chain.

Analysis of C&S Wholesale Grocers and Amazon

C&S Wholesale Grocers

C&S Wholesale Grocers reached the decision to close one of its distribution centers in Newburgh Town, New York. The decision resulted in the laying off 304 workers who were commissioned to the 1500 Corporate Boulevard warehouse. The move was triggered by one of the largest customers of the wholesaler embracing the self-distribution model, thus rendering the company’s services redundant in their supply chain. The article illustrates the implications of embracing the self-distribution model, especially those directly affected by such decisions. As for this case, the affected group was the C&S Wholesale Grocer, who worked as an intermediary for the customer, presumably a farmer or a producer of grocery products. This could be considered as a negative implication of the self-distribution model, as it renders businesses bankrupt and employees jobless, particularly those working with retailers and wholesalers. For instance, the wholesaler had to close down its warehouse and lay off over 300 workers this was because its role in the supply chain system of its largest customer had been rendered redundant by this model. On the other hand, the beneficiaries of this model seem to be the producers or manufacturers who adopt the self-distribution model and the final consumers, owing to the improved efficiency in product delivery and a significant reduction in cost and time overheads.

C&S Warehouses Grocers Restructures Company with Nationwide Layoffs

Amazon Company

The second article provides a manufacturer’s perspective of the self-distribution model by reviewing an interview with Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon Corporation, the largest e-commerce company in the world. Apparently, the CEO is considering introducing drones to facilitate the distribution of the products ordered by customers from its site. The Octocopter R&D project seeks to develop drones that will fly packages from the company’s warehouses directly to the doorstep of their customers in 30 minutes. Once approved by the FAA after passing all safety tests, the delivery-by-drone program dubbed ‘Prime Air’ is likely to be rolled out in 4 to five years’ time. The launch of this project will significantly reduce the cost of operations for Amazon, considering the fact that distribution makes up the biggest percentage of its revenues as an e-commerce firm. In the same regard, the self-delivery system model will also improve customer satisfaction by ensuring timely delivery of their Amazon orders at their doorsteps in 30 minutes.

Modern-day consumers have an increased preference for online shopping because of the convenience and efficiency that it guarantees. As such, the Prime Air distribution program that Amazon will launch will go a long way in enhancing the degree of their convenience and efficiency, as they will have their orders delivered in the shortest time possible, at their most convenient premise, and for a lower price as drones will reduce delivery charges on their purchases by three quarters.

Comparing the Self-Distribution Model at Amazon and C&S Grocers

The two articles are similar because they both discuss the implementation of the self-distribution model adopted by manufacturers and producers and its subsequent implication on the mode of doing business, particularly the Supply Chain Management System. The self-distribution model entails companies dealing directly with their final consumers by undertaking the distribution process, thereby eliminating intermediaries in their supply chain systems. In the two case studies, C&S Grocers and Amazon were intermediaries and producers, respectively, both of which were affected in one way or the other by the introduction of the self-distribution model in their business cycles. In C&S Grocers’ case, the company was negatively affected by the introduction of the self-distribution model in its supply chain, where it played the role of an intermediary (a wholesaler), whereby it was forced to close down one of its warehouses after one of its largest customers adopted the model. The C&S Grocers’ case illustrates the negativity of the model, showing how the model causes businesses to close down and workers to lose their jobs.

In Amazon’s case, the company is planning on introducing the self-distribution model and facing out any intermediaries in its supply chain to enhance the efficiency and timeliness of its deliveries. If the company’s plan to replace its distributors with drones that would take less than 30 minutes to deliver customers’ orders is approved by the FAA after passing all relevant safety tests, Amazon will probably triple its profitability margins because most of its expenditure budgets go towards the distribution of products ordered by customers through its e-commerce platform. Another beneficiary of this ingenious system would be the customers making orders from Amazon online stores as they would be guaranteed fast deliveries of their products as the world fast advances into digital deliveries of online orders. This will also enhance the convenience and efficiency of shoppers using the Amazon platform, thus enhancing its competitive advantage within its primary markets.

As such, the two articles show the positives and the negatives associated with the introduction of the self-distribution model in the supply chain systems of corporate institutions, whereby companies are not focusing on cutting out the middle person. The common factor in both cases is that it would result in massive unemployment of workers commissioned to the intermediary links in both companies. In the case of C&S Warehouse Grocers, the company had to lay off its workers because one of its largest customers adopted the self-distribution model, thus rendering its services redundant. In the case of Amazon, the introduction of machinery such as drones in the distribution of its customers’ orders in a fast and efficient manner (within 30 minutes at the doorstep of its customers), will also lead to massive layoffs, considering the number of distributors working for the company.

Evidently, the self-distribution model is a major transformation in the supply chain systems that bring about positive changes to the process of doing business. The self-distribution model is a supply chain change whose time has come, and businesses and other concerned stakeholders will simply have to conform to the changes in market dynamics. Modern-day customers are now demanding fast delivery of their online orders, thus having little patience for delayed orders that might take 24 hours or more to arrive. In this regard, the ingenious program by Amazon to use drones in distributing packages is a welcome idea as it will benefit both the company and its consumers. However, those negatively affected by the change should consider alternative options of doing business or making a living, just as with other obsolete ideas or companies that were phased out by advanced innovations.