Amazon has opened its first staffed customer pickup and drop-off location. To ensure its success, the e-commerce giant elected to erect the facility on the campus of Purdue University
Located in the Krach leadership Center, Amazon@Purdue gives students the convenience of receiving textbooks and other college essentials without having to leave campus. In addition to standard Amazon pricing, eligible students and staff can take advantage of benefits that are exclusive to this location.
When searching for textbooks, for example, students will easily recognize the books they need as they'll feature a Purdue badge right in the search results. What's more, items marked with a "Prime Campus" badge are eligible for free one-day pickup.
When a package arrives, students will get an e-mail or text notification. When ready, recipients can click a link in the notification to generate a barcode. This barcode is then scanned at the Amazon@Purdue center and can be picked up at one of the self-service lockers or you can get help from an associate.
Amazon is planning to launch more locations like this at other college campuses in the near future.
As far as retail ambitions, it's unlikely that we'll see similar setups anytime soon. The company has experimented with pickup lockers in the past but the idea for mainstream customers never really took off.
What's much more likely, however, is that we could see Amazon set up shop in former RadioShack retail locations. The company has reportedly held talks with the ailing electronics chain to buy up some of its soon-to-be vacated stores.