Here’s a riddle for you: who in the world can sell 17 million individual items within 24 hours? These numbers are the official statistics of Amazon online shopping sales from 2011, and for the first time, these cool photos of their 80 “chaotic storage” Amazon shopping warehouses from around the globe started circling the Internet.

“Chaotic storage” refers to Amazon’s way of storing goods when all the items are essentially stored at random. This rejection of categorization at Amazon’s warehouses not only creates a better flow of materials but also helps to respond to changes in the product range much easier.

SSI Schaefer blog has a nice explanation of this chaotic Amazon storage process: “The warehouse staff takes incoming goods to the shelving system, where they are placed in unoccupied shelf positions. Each shelf space has a unique barcode and every product as well. The staff uses handheld barcode scanners to record the shelf space and the corresponding product, thus telling the computer, where the goods are located.”

Sounds easy? Take a look at these interesting photos!

Sources: ibtimes.com, ssi-schaefer.de | Images: imgur