These were the bustling scenes from Tuesday (15/11) inside one of Amazon‘s biggest distribution centres as it prepares for Black Friday and the Christmas period.
Over 1,000 members of staff at the retail giant’s warehouse could be seen racing to fill orders in time for one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
Items from electrical goods to children’s toys and clothes line miles of shelves, inside the company’s 550,000 sq ft warehouse in Peterborough, Cambs.
Bosses said they had the busiest Black Friday to date on November 27 last year, selling more than 7.4 million items – a rate of around 86 items per second.
The firm hired an extra 15,000 temporary staff across its UK distribution centres last year to cope with increased demand.
This year they have created an additional 20,000 seasonal and 3,500 permanent jobs across its offices and began their biggest ever sale on Monday (14/1).
The deals – which has seen up to 80 per cent slashed off some items – will run up until Black Friday next week (25/11)
Alongside the discounts on popular items, Amazon has also slashed the cost of its Prime subscription service.
Doug Gurr, Amazon‘s UK country manager, said: “In response to positive customer feedback for Black Friday deals, we are introducing The Black Friday Sale – 12 days of fantastic deals on must-have gifts and products, saving our customers millions of pounds.
“We’re also thrilled to have over a thousand small businesses featuring in our Black Friday Sale, broadening the selection for our customers and enabling those businesses to boost their sales in the run up to Christmas.”
