Amazon employees worked to fulfill hundreds of thousands of items on Cyber Monday.
NBC Connecticut got a behind-the-scenes look inside the newest fulfillment center in Windsor.
“We're very excited to be here. This is our Super Bowl,” said Gurol Butun, the director of operations in Amazon robotics.
The new facility, on Kennedy Road, is the size of 66 football fields with 17 miles of conveyors, according to Butun.
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“Usually this facility ships about 500,000 packages a day. And today we're targeting Cyber Monday being our Super Bowl, we're targeting to ship about 650,000 units today, so a big increase. We owe it to our people, our associates. They're working very hard,” said Butun.
Meeting that demand takes a year's worth of preparation and practice, according to Caitlin McLaughlin, an Amazon spokesperson.
“We have a couple days during the year, we have Prime Days and so that kind of gives an idea of how much capacity our buildings can handle, and it lets the employees know just how busy they’re going to be,” said McLaughlin.
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Amazon hired an additional 1,000 people over the last two months, so on Cyber Monday, 4,000 people were working inside to fulfill the orders.
“My goal in this building is once the order drops out to get it out of the building within four hours,” Butun said.
With Cyber Monday being such a big online shopping day, the Better Business Bureau serving Connecticut warns there are scams to avoid this holiday shopping season:
- Beware of false advertising and phony websites.
- Shop with trustworthy sellers on secure sites only. Be wary of businesses you aren’t familiar with. Check their BBB Business Profile on BBB.org, review the rating, and read customer reviews. In addition, be sure any web page you purchase from is secure. Secure web addresses begin with "HTTPS, " not just "HTTP."
- Keep your antivirus software up to date.
- Price check before you buy.
- Take advantage of rewards and loyalty programs.
- Use your credit card.
- Understand return policies.
- Watch out for phishing scams.
