While having your packages delivered to your doorstep is pretty convenient, there are still times when it can actually bring you more stress. There might not be someone to wait for the delivery or some hooligans might steal it when left on your front porch. Or you also might have privacy issues about having someone go to your house to deliver things. Amazon thinks it may have found the solution to this. You can still shop online but pick it up at one of their newly-launched Counter locations across the US.
Amazon customers in the US will now be able to choose Counter locations near their area to pick up their package after ordering something online. Amazon says that this pick up option is available for “tens of millions of items” that are sold on Amazon and will also be able to work with their various delivery options like Same-Day, One-Day, Two-Day, and Standard Shipping but there will be no additional cost. The Counter locations are actually in already existing brick and mortar stores.
The process is pretty simple and seems secure. You can choose from among the Counter pickup points that are available in your zip code when you shop on Amazon and you’re choosing your delivery location. When the package arrives at the store, you will get an email notification that it’s ready for pick up. You also get a unique barcode and a reminder of the address and business hours of the store. Then just go to the store, show the barcode so they can scan, retrieve, then hand over your package.
For its initial rollout, Counters are now available in more than a hundred Rite Aid stores in the US. Amazon is targeting that by the end of the year, you’ll be able to find them in 1,500 locations across the country. But they’re also looking for additional partners that are not just large chains but also include small to midsize business.
This is part of Amazon’s efforts to bring together online and brick and mortar stores to further their online retail empire. This may also be part of their “pharmaceutical push” as they acquired online pharmacy PillPack just last year and Rite Aid is of course a pharmacy chain.
