North Jersey residents will get their Amazon deliveries even faster now that the giant e-commerce company has opened a distribution center with a pickup and returns center on McBride Avenue.

The same-day delivery warehouse opened late last year, but the facility held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday morning.

The Amazon distribution center works well because the company understands what customers want and how fast they want it, its officials said on Friday. Those goods are stocked in the new 205,000-square-foot facility, making same-day deliveries to North Jersey customers much easier. Its second similar New Jersey facility is located in Burlington.

“Our building features advanced robotics that assist our associates and the work that they do,” Drew McCrossan, Site Leader said. “We are the only same-day fulfillment center in the entire network that features an area called “lockers plus”, that is an area where our local community members can come in to pick up packages and make returns. We appreciate all of your support and our being here today. We’re very proud to be in Woodland Park, and we look forward to becoming a fabric of this region.” 

Among the many stocked items popular with local customers are Nespresso coffee capsules, Amazon Basics batteries, iHealth COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Tests and the Fire TV Stick with Alexa voice remote, Amazon officials said.

How is Amazon able to fulfill same-day deliveries?

Once customers place their orders, it is processed and shipped within five to seven hours, said Woodland Park's Site Lead Drew McCrossan.

On Friday, Amazon allowed local officials to peek behind the scenes as products arrived, were scanned by employees stowed in one of the 700 robotic carts to await an order.

Once the items are scanned, they are available for purchase and the process is reversed as the robotic carts hand the items back to the human employees on the shipping side of the operation. The employees then package and addresses the items that is sent off on a conveyor belt to the shippers, who bring them to the Flex drivers.

Flex drivers are all private contractors who load as many as 40 packages in their personal vehicles and deliver them. They are the backbone of the operation, officials said. The 120 Flex drivers are the reason goods get to the customers within the same day.

"We started out delivering to about 2 or 3 miles from here," McCrossan said. "We've expanded to about a 32-mile radius."

Customers may also ask for their package to be stored in one of the dozens of lockers on the premises for pickup.

Located in the small retail-like section of the operation, the lockers are accessed by customers with a scan code.

The area also serves as a return area for Amazon customers, who just have to drop off their packages between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Employees will assist with the return process.

The location has 400 employees, officials said, adding that number may increase.

For Woodland Park taxpayers, the distribution center boosts ratables that are welcomed following the exit of Kearfott Guidance and Navigation in February 2021 said Mayor Keith Kazmark.

"This is great news for the local economy and for Woodland Park taxpayers," he said. "We estimate that the property will jump from a $10 million ratable to a $25 million ratable."

The borough is waiting to hear from the company about its plan to open an Amazon Fresh in the vacant building that housed the former Fairway supermarket on Route 46.

Amazon officials said they still expect the store to open, but could not provide a date.