Next stop for Amazon's burgeoning empire? Its own delivery network.
The retailer is testing a system for the final leg of customer orders, The Wall Street Journal reports. The service would give Amazon more control over shipping timing and expenses.
The e-commerce giant currently has a network in San Francisco, where Amazon-supervised contractors deliver Amazon packages around the area. It has plans to roll out similar services in Los Angeles and New York, according to the Journal.
The network is likely to pose a challenge to shipment companies like United Parcel Service and FedEx that currently deliver most of Amazon's products. And it will also threaten the retailer's rivals like eBay and Google, which are each wading into the delivery waters.
But this talk of a delivery network isn't completely new for Amazon: It already has one in the U.K.
Amazon reports its quarterly earnings after the markets close Thursday. Its shares are down about 16 percent year to date.
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—By CNBC.com staff.