Amazon already delivered within the hour, but is now adding to that. The internet giant is coming up with a logistics concept where customers can pick up their orders within two minutes.
The online shop is currently testing the service, called Instant Pickup, at five universities. Prime subscribers who place an order online can pick it up two minutes later in lockers on campus. Amazon employees fill these lockers from an area behind the locker walls. The lockers open with a personal barcode.
For now, the range consists of about 100 items, including snacks and drinks. Non-food products such as phone chargers can also be ordered.
Impulse purchases
With the new service, Amazon seems to want to tap into a new online market, that of impulse purchases. Delivery within the hour would not appeal to consumers who want their groceries delivered immediately. Earlier, it therefore launched AmazonFresh Pickup, which collects groceries ordered online within 15 minutes and places them in the boot of the car at a pick-up point. However, for small groceries, fifteen minutes of waiting time would be too long. "I want to buy a can of Coke because I'm thirsty," said Ripley MacDonald, Amazon director of student programmes. "You obviously don't order something like that on Amazon.com and then wait indefinitely for it to be delivered. Here we can provide that service immediately."
Competition for vending machines
The service may offer competition for the drink and snack vending machines already present at universities. However, experts think Amazon's new service will not fare so well. "This might work for electronic gadgets that are not available in standard vending machines," said Forrester analyst Ananda Chakravarty. "Two minutes is too long to wait for a can of soda."
Instant Pickpup is available in Berkely, Atlanta, Columbus Ohio and College Park, Maryland. Amazon is considering expansion to multiple locations.
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