Major logistics and e-commerce companies including Amazon, UPS, FedEx and Maersk are steering capital spending away from adding physical warehouse space and toward automation, predictive AI and network optimization, according to WWD. Higher labor costs, driver shortages, tariff realignments and elevated interest rates are pushing the industry to prioritize efficiency over sheer volume growth.
Analysts estimate global warehouse automation spending reached $30 billion this year, with more than 4.7 million commercial warehouse robots deployed across over 50,000 facilities worldwide. Amazon alone runs more than 600,000 logistics robots and raised its 2026 capital expenditure forecast to about $220 billion, up from $131 billion in 2025, mostly for generative AI, cloud infrastructure and logistics automation.
UPS has automated 63 percent of hub volume and aims to build 400 fully automated buildings by 2028, while investing over $100 million in RFID tracking across its U.S. network. FedEx has taken a different route, lowering capital intensity toward about 4 percent of revenue by consolidating its air, ground and freight networks and modernizing existing hubs instead of building duplicates. Maersk has earmarked $10 billion to $11 billion for integrated logistics and port infrastructure, including dual-fuel methanol vessels supporting its 2040 net-zero target.
Companies are also directing money to nearshoring corridors such as U.S.-Mexico border hubs, fleet electrification and charging infrastructure. Gartner expects global IT spending to reach $6.37 trillion this year, up 14.2 percent, though a global memory chip shortage and rising hardware costs are straining budgets. GEP researchers warned that U.S. tariffs could cut Chinese machinery imports by as much as 33 percent, raising equipment costs 5 to 10 percent and prompting more regional sourcing.
Originally reported by WWD