Inside Newegg NJ: A New Warehouse and Another Contest
by Anand Lal Shimpi on May 20, 2008 12:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Trade Shows
For years I'd been visiting Newegg's facilities and I'd always commented, especially in the early days, on how I'd really wanted to take pictures of the facilities and do an article on them. Back when Newegg was much younger, a good portion of its success was due to the efficiencies of its warehouse in filling orders. As many companies in our industry tend to be, Newegg was quite shy and wouldn't let me so much as take a picture the first couple of times I visited them.
Finally in 2006, they opened up to the idea of documenting one of their warehouses. Armed with camera and notepad I toured Newegg's facilitiy in Los Angeles just around the time that it opened its first warehouse servicing the east coast in Tennessee. Fast forward to 2008 and Newegg had just recently unveiled its second east coast facility, this time in New Jersey.
With revenues well over $1B a year, Newegg is no longer the seemingly small operation it once was and the company is much less shy. While the brains behind the original warehouse design has since left the company, the New Jersey facility is an improved, more up-to-date version of what I saw back in LA in 2006.
There are far fewer actual people at the warehouse now thanks to even further automation and, yes, the goal is still to get your order to you within two days of leaving the facility regardless of shipping method. That's actually the whole purpose of building the NJ facility, so that customers on the east coast can actually get their orders within that two day target - even with ground shipping.
For those of you who remember the first article, not much has changed - everything i just a lot newer (and the warehouse is a lot quieter too). I told Newegg that if we were going to do another tour we had to do it exactly like last time, which meant that they needed to give away something special to AnandTech readers. The first time Newegg let me tour their facilities and setup a giveaway it was a very kind gesture, now it has become tradition. I'll get to exactly what you get to win and how in a little bit.
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ValuePrivacy - Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - link
Shame on AnandTech for promoting this Newegg contest, because the registration requirements are highly objectionable. I had intended to register for it, until I saw on the Newegg registration page that they wanted my date of birth. What the hell do they need my date of birth for?! Considering that date of birth is highly useful for identity theft, and that no site can truly guarantee data security, I think that for them to ask for date of birth is unreasonable, for me to give it to them would be stupid, and for AnandTech to promote such a contest is undesirable. Oh, sure, I could just make up a date (I often do), but they might require the winner to fax his driver's license, and then refuse to give me the prize if I did win, because of the discrepancy. They will eventually need, for IRS reporting, the social security numbers of the winners, but they DON'T need soc. #s or birthdates of contest entrants. Give up your private data without truly good reason, and you are giving up your privacy. Give up your privacy, and soon the 4th amendnent to the constitution will be meaningless. Soon thereafter we'll be living in a police state.AmberClad - Friday, May 23, 2008 - link
Your post is absolutely laughable...by all means, please feel free to not enter this voluntary contest if you feel that NewEgg might use your date of birth for nefarious purposes, and spare us your pompous, sensationalist rant about privacy fears.ValuePrivacy - Friday, May 23, 2008 - link
This is (or used to be) a free country, and you are, of course, free to consider my post laughable. But I consider your naivete sad --- sad, most of all, for the future of this country. I'm old enough to remember when people still valued their privacy. Nowadays, they plaster their whole life on Facebook and MySpace, and egotistically think they've done something desirable. They haven't. And a corporation can, without good reason, ask for your private information, and you not only fork it over, you defend the request. It's all part of a greater pattern: accepting loss of privacy, with little understanding of the implications. Little by little, you and most other people accept the intrusions. And pretty soon, you accept that the government reads your email and listens to your phone calls without a warrant. It all seems normal, and natural, just the way things are. Well, let me clue you in: It may have become the norm, but it's not the way it used to be, and not the way the founders of this country (who fought for their freedom) envisioned it. And so, I'm going to repeat the question in my original post, so it doesn't get forgotten: What the hell do they need my birthdate for? (I'd like to hear a true answer from Newegg's CEO, but I won't hold my breath). Information is power. Power to manipulate your purchases, power to manipulate the political process. Governments and corporations know that, but a considerable portion of the population either doesn't know, or doesn't care (as long as they can get either their quad-core or Hollywood gossip fix).strikeback03 - Thursday, May 22, 2008 - link
Plenty of states require contest entrants/winners to be over 18.ValuePrivacy - Thursday, May 22, 2008 - link
That's true, but I don't think that's the reason in this case. According to their web site, Newegg is headquartered in City of Industry, California. Hewlett-Packard is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. Same state. Right now, HP is running a contest; they ask entrants for name, email, and phone number, NOT BIRTH DATE. The HP contest rules do state that the contest is restricted to those 18 years of age or older, and that the WINNER will be required to submit an affidavit of eligibility. But they aren't collecting birthdates of contest ENTRANTS. That's a big difference, and let me reiterate: same state. I'm willing to give a corporation my birthdate if I WIN their contest. But Newegg is completely out of line to ask for birthdate of every ENTRANT.irev210 - Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - link
I love the NJ warehouse, shipments always make it to Boston in 1 business day.Smart move for a warehouse in NJ for us Boston/New York guys :)
rudder - Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - link
Thanks to the warehouse in Tennessee... I get charged 10% sales tax on my Newegg orders ... :(KnightRid - Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - link
I wish there would be a video to go along with it! I love the factory tour shows. It is neat to see how everything is actually done. Thanx for the look inside!NJ has been shipping to me for years, this must be a new warehouse?
Mike
Only thing I can say bad is this - why dont they put peanuts in the box BEFORE adding your items, then again AFTER adding your items. I get boxes of thousands of dollars worth of parts that are sitting on the bottom of the box where they get the most abuse, with a ton of peanuts above them! Put some peanuts in the box before you add the merchandise!!! or at least a layer of bubble wrap - anything would be better than letting UPS throw the boxes around with no protection on the bottom.
Frallan - Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - link
As usual - i am dissapointed but hey - I am also glad in comparison to most other organizations running sweepstakes you are aware that there is a world outside the US borders.
Thx for trying :0)
/Frallan
nubie - Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - link
I see now how they could ship a carton of Eeepc's to people instead of one :DThe system lights up and the carton is the same size as a laptop box, it must be a laptop ;)
That is a pretty schweet warehouse.
UPS vs. Fedex, hmm, I think UPS has got the infrastructure in place for this sort of operation (Fedex is not even close IIRC, remember what it was like when UPS went on strike? Fedex couldn't handle the volume.)
UPS has never "package smashed" any of my goods, from what I hear it is the middle of the country that is a Bermuda Triangle for UPS stuff, in CA I have no problem (and a lot of stuff I get from the east, it must be on a plane over the crappy hubs, or stay on the truck all the way to the West coast.)