Amazon a hugely profitable e-commerce portal is looking to take its business underwater.
In a recent patent filed by Amazon earlier this year, the company details a system where it would store its goods in sealed containers underwater in reservoirs, lakes, and so on, only floating them to the surface to deliver to a customer.
The idea is this would help cut down on overheads and improve their profit margins.
The patent reveals that products would be stored in sealed containers and dropped in water bodies via parachute, trucks, or conveyor belts.
Each container would be tuned to a unique “acoustic signal” so, when the right tone is played, its attached air bladder would inflate, forcing the package to rise to the surface.
From there, the container can easily be fished out and placed onto a delivery truck, ready to go.
But it’s not giving up on warehouses entirely. Amazon says it plans to use the fulfilment centres it owns to instead sort packages for drone delivery.
However, there’s no word yet on whether Amazon will actively pursue this plan, or even if it’ll make it beyond the patent stage at all.
