Inside Newegg: They give us a Tour and you a Prize
by Anand Lal Shimpi on February 14, 2006 3:31 PM EST- Posted in
- IT Computing
The Picker
Finally, at the very back of the warehouse there's a three-level rack/picker setup and this is where your order from Newegg is actually born.
The three levels are organized in terms of product "velocity" or the speed at which Newegg sells through of that particular product. A proprietary algorithm designed in-house by Newegg determines velocity. High velocity products (pictured below) such as in-demand motherboards or video cards will be found on the first floor, while medium and low velocity products such as server boards, certain optical drives, etc... will be found on the second and third floors respectively. The idea is that the easiest to load floor is the first floor, and that's where product that needs to be frequently replenished should be.
Some "medium velocity" items
As soon as Newegg receives your order it is allocated a bar-coded tub; the encoded in the tub's label is data on every item that's in your order as well as where it is located within Newegg's warehouse. The automated system will not print a shipping label for your order unless every item in your order matches all of the barcodes in the tub.
The tub glides along a rolling conveyer, which will carry the tub from the start on the first floor all the way up to the third floor. Along its journey it will pass by Newegg's inventory; the system (pictured below), knowing exactly what your order should contain, will stop the tub whenever it gets to an item that needs to be put into it.
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Blondie - Thursday, February 16, 2006 - link
The article was very informative. Thank you so much for taking the time to bring it to us.Bozo Galora - Thursday, February 16, 2006 - link
wow, anand is all growed up.I often wondered if the $50 million plus payout for AT site during the dotcom bubble that anand missed by just a few weeks has been made up for over the ensuing years. Hmmmmmmmmm.
Was it Sharkey that got $70 million or sumthin. LOL
Phiro - Thursday, February 16, 2006 - link
99.9999999% of those dotcom bubble payouts were in stock, which 99.99999% of the time dropped tremendously in value before they could unload any.So 99.999999% of your $50M deals turns into $50k deals.
jnmunsey - Wednesday, February 15, 2006 - link
Hey man NewEgg ain't got no white employees.. Those racist bastards!jnmunsey - Wednesday, February 15, 2006 - link
No wait I found 1 white guy in this pic from page 1 of the article.. The token white guy can be found here in the middle-left of the pichttp://images.anandtech.com/reviews/IT/InsideNeweg...">http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/IT/InsideNeweg...
andrep74 - Friday, February 17, 2006 - link
Yeah, have you ever read the requirements for getting a job there? You practically have to speak Chinese...yanman - Wednesday, February 15, 2006 - link
Anand, how about you use this chance to get NewEgg to offer international shipping for us poor aussies :)Schmide - Wednesday, February 15, 2006 - link
but with all that technology. How come my browser never starts on page 1 in their hot deals section. It’s always page 3 or 4. LOL.Slaimus - Wednesday, February 15, 2006 - link
Newegg got (in?)famous on Anandtech when they were the only one to sell the Radeon LE (Sapphire version imported from China, back in the day when all ATI was made by ATI themselves). It was far cheaper than the Made by ATI Radeon DDR. This got posted in Hot Deals forum and everyone was pleased with their fast and free shipping. They got in trouble, however, when people found out it was the LE (slower) version instead of the full Radeon DDR. There was a big uproar (I think the thread grew to 500 posts or so), and Newegg was forced to take in returns or offer price adjustments. This is also what started the cheap "refurbs" that newegg sells, which were just customer returns. This was probably also why Newegg started posting the core/memory speeds of graphics card they sell.kmmatney - Wednesday, February 15, 2006 - link
Heck yeah!!! I bought one of those Radeon LEs for cheap after the first debacle. I flashed the BIOS to a full Radeon. It gave me a top of the line $150 video card for $65!! Back then, top of the line as $150 :(.