86 626
Fashion Jobs
MACY'S
Retail Fulfillment Associate, University Park Mall - Part Time
Permanent · MISHAWAKA
MACY'S
Asset Protection Captain, Interstate - Full Time
Permanent · RAMSEY
MACY'S
Retail Fulfillment Associate, Ventura Pacific View - Part Time
Permanent · VENTURA
MACY'S
Asset Protection Detective, South Beach - Full Time
Permanent · MIAMI BEACH
MACY'S
Asset Protection Security Guard, Garden State Park - Full Time
Permanent · CHERRY HILL
MACY'S
Retail Fulfillment Associate, White Oaks - Part Time
Permanent · SPRINGFIELD
MACY'S
Retail Fulfillment Associate, Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills - Part Time
Permanent · TARENTUM
MACY'S
Asset Protection Captain, Orland Square - Full Time
Permanent · ORLAND PARK
MACY'S
Asset Protection Security Guard, Queens Center - Part Time
Permanent · NEW YORK
MACY'S
Retail Fulfillment Associate, Village at Fairview - Part Time
Permanent · FAIRVIEW
MACY'S
Asset Protection Detective, Marley Station - Part Time
Permanent · GLEN BURNIE
MACY'S
Asset Protection Security Guard, Broadcasting Square - Part Time
Permanent · WYOMISSING
MACY'S
Asset Protection Security Guard, Winter Garden Village - Part Time
Permanent · WINTER GARDEN
MACY'S
Manager, Asset Protection
Permanent · SPRINGFIELD
MACY'S
Asset Protection Security Guard, Centerton Square - Part Time
Permanent · MOUNT LAUREL TOWNSHIP
MACY'S
Retail Fulfillment Associate, Westland - Part Time
Permanent · HIALEAH
MACY'S
Asset Protection Security Guard, Bloomingdale Court - Part Time
Permanent · BLOOMINGDALE
MACY'S
Retail Fulfillment Associate, Cumberland Mall - Full Time
Permanent · ATLANTA
MACY'S
Asset Protection Security Guard, Broadcasting Square - Full Time
Permanent · WYOMISSING
MACY'S
Retail Fulfillment Associate, Riverpark - Part Time
Permanent · FRESNO
MACY'S
Retail Fulfillment Associate, Shoppes at Buckland Hills - Part Time
Permanent · MANCHESTER
MACY'S
Retail Fulfillment Associate, Empire - Part Time
Permanent · SIOUX FALLS
By
Reuters API
Published
Aug 15, 2017
Reading time
2 minutes
Download
Download the article
Print
Text size

Amazon opens 'Instant Pickup' points in U.S. brick-and-mortar push

By
Reuters API
Published
Aug 15, 2017

Amazon.com Inc is rolling out pickup points in the United States where shoppers can retrieve items immediately after ordering them, shortening delivery times from hours to minutes, the company said on Tuesday.

 

  
The world's largest online retailer has launched 'Instant Pickup' points around five college campuses, such as the University of California at Berkeley, it said. Amazon has plans to open more sites by the end of the year including one in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighbourhood.

Shoppers on Amazon's mobile app can select from several hundred fast-selling items at each site, from snacks and drinks to phone chargers. Amazon employees in a back room then load orders into lockers within two minutes, and customers receive bar codes to access them.

The news underscores Amazon's broader push into brick-and-mortar retail. The e-commerce company, which said in June it would buy Whole Foods Market Inc for $13.7 billion, has come to realise that certain transactions like buying fresh produce are hard to shift online. Its Instant Pickup programme targets another laggard: impulse buys.

"I want to buy a can of coke because I’m thirsty," said Ripley MacDonald, Amazon's director of student programs. "There’s no chance I’m going to order that on Amazon.com and wait however long it’s going to take for that to ship to me. I can provide that kind of service here."

Instant Pickup puts Amazon in competition with vending machine services. Yet the larger size of the Amazon sites means they are unlikely to pose a threat to those selling snack and drink vending machines to offices and schools. MacDonald said Amazon considered automating the Instant Pickup points but declined to say why the company had not pursued the idea.

Its ability to shorten delivery times has been a sore point for brick-and-mortar retailers, who have struggled to grow sales as their customers have turned to more convenient online options. Until Instant Pickup, Amazon shoppers could expect to have their orders within an hour at best via the company's Prime Now programme, or within 15 minutes for grocery orders via AmazonFresh Pickup. Amazon has made two-day shipping standard in the United States.

Instant Pickup prices may be cheaper than those on Amazon.com, MacDonald said. He declined to detail how the items are priced, however. Other locations in the programme now open include Los Angeles, Atlanta, Columbus, Ohio and College Park, Maryland.

© Thomson Reuters 2024 All rights reserved.