Cyber Monday Means Busy Day For Twin Cities Amazon Workers
MAPLE GROVE, Minn. (WCCO) -- Many of us will likely be turning to our smartphones or computers Monday to do some shopping. Cyber Monday has begun, and one of the busiest sites will most likely be Amazon.
An Amazon facility in Maple Grove was filled with packages ready to be delivered Monday. Those packages were purchases made on Black Friday, and anything purchased on Cyber Monday will be in the facility in a few days.
Employees who work at the Maple Grove facility were here until 8 p.m. Sunday and then back in at 2 a.m. to make sure they're getting the surge of packages to your door quickly for the holiday season.
"We literally are delivering right to the customer," Amazon regional manager Jon Kampp said. "So Amazon has the ability to process the order from the very initial order on the website, all the way through the facilities to the very last touch, and we deliver right to your front door. So it is really a very personal connection that we have with our customers, especially here in the Twin Cities."
This is a fast operation that works almost entirely overnight. All of the packages will be moving into delivery trucks over the next few hours and the entire facility will be completely empty by 10 a.m.
The second Cyber Monday of the pandemic is on track to be the biggest one yet.
Adobe Analytics predicts Americans will spend around $11.3 billion Monday, which is a 5% increase compared to last year.
The hottest items are entertainment devices, especially wireless speakers. Cookware is also very popular.
This holiday season, Amazon partnered with celebrities and influencers to help curate lists of gifts to help you get ideas of what to buy for presents this year.
"Some of our social media influencers, some of the influencers here in society are picking out gifts that they think people will really like," Amazon spokesperson Scott Seroka said. "You're gonna find a lot of deals on things that are really cool."
A Minnesota celebrity also made a gift guide. Suni Lee picked her favorite items on Amazon. Just type her name in the search bar to find her list. She picked several items from Minnesota businesses.
