Dive Brief:
- Amazon is introducing Instant Pickup points where shoppers can retrieve items two minutes after ordering, further shortening delivery expectations, Reuters reported Tuesday.
- Shoppers employing Amazon's mobile app can select from several hundred fast-selling items, from snacks and drinks to lightning phone chargers and other cords. Amazon employees behind the scenes load orders into lockers within two minutes, sending customers unique bar codes providing access.
- The Instant Pickup points share space with Same-Day Pickup locations at various colleges around the country.
Dive Insight:
Just as retailers like Office Depot and Staples begin same-day or sooner delivery, Amazon invents a two-minute solution to between-class breaks and technology emergencies, offering everything from coke to connection cords through a locker set before a well-stocked mini-warehouse.
Though same day pickup has been available since 2011, the two-minute window is a more recent development, and its presence on college campuses clarifies Amazon's current customer targets.
The service affects yet another branch of brick-and-mortar retail: convenience stores operating nearby will likely feel the pinch, since students need no longer leave campus to make common purchases. And, as anything bought can also be paid for via the Amazon app, it's easier for students on a budget to draw upon a prepaid account.
