NEW YORK (AP) — By late afternoon, dozens of brown boxes in assorted sizes begin piling up in the lobby of my apartment building. Each bears the familiar smile — a cheerful curve stretching from “A” to “Z”— signaling a company that sells everything and promises satisfaction.

The Amazon delivery box, found everywhere from suburban porches to city apartment lobbies, is more than cardboard. It symbolizes a shopping culture that expects nearly anything within hours and, in a growing number of cities, under 30 minutes. It also represents the vast network of workers and robots sorting and packing orders, and fleets of trucks, vans, bikes and even drones carrying them to customers’ doorsteps.

That’s a big difference from a few decades ago, when instant gratification meant driving or walking to the local store for an item. There was always catalog shopping from the likes of L.L. Bean or Lands’ End. But delivery could take at least a week.

Amazon quickly changed those expectations. Launched live from founder Jeff Bezos’s garage as an online bookseller in July 1995, it expanded into CDs, DVDs and videotapes, then toys, clothing and other items, becoming “the everything store.”

In 2005, Amazon revolutionized online shopping with two-day deliveries for Prime members. Since then, Amazon and its rivals have steadily shortened delivery times. This year, Amazon is rolling out 30-minute delivery. In the U.S., more than 300 million items across over 35 categories have free Prime shipping, Amazon said.

E-commerce should account for 17.4% of U.S. retail sales this year, or $1.4 trillion, according to research firm eMarketer. Amazon commands 40% of the U.S. online market, ahead of No. 2 Walmart at 11.4%, according to the firm. This comes as Amazon evolves into not only an e-commerce juggernaut but a major force in cloud computing and artificial intelligence.

As Amazon rapidly expands, it’s rolling out a series of innovations to make its packaging lighter, tighter and easier to recycle, according to Pat Lindner, the company’s vice president of mechatronics and sustainable packaging. Amazon is also moving away from single-use plastic packaging. Amazon reduced the share of its North American shipments that use single-use plastic packaging from 65% in 2023 to 27% in 2025.

Moreover, Amazon is reducing the number of its trademark boxes it uses.

Now, about 11% of the company’s global orders are shipped in their original manufacturer packaging without adding extra boxes or envelopes, Amazon says. And last year, more than half weren’t sent in a box — they were either delivered in their original packaging or flexible packaging.

Still, the box won’t go away, Lindner says. “The box will always be important,” he says, “and we’ll continue to innovate to meet the customer’s needs.”