Amazon is taking another step in shortening delivery times with a new ‘Instant Pickup’ service in the US… but only for specific high-demand items.
Under the new scheme, Amazon shoppers can pick up orders for certain items within two minutes of making their purchase.
The program is live at five college campuses including the University of California at Berkeley for now, and will expand to additional sites, including neighborhood spots within cities, by end of year.
The selection at each location covers several hundred items. These include things that are often sold in high volume and quickly on Amazon, such as phone chargers, snacks and drinks.
Items purchased via Instant Pickup are picked by Amazon employees on site at the pickup points, then loaded into lockers which are closed with a unique code that the buyer receives to retrieve their goods.
Prices could be cheaper than via the website for traditional delivery, and Amazon has also considered automating the Instant Pickup points but did not end up doing that for this rollout.
Pickup points are open at campuses in LA, Atlanta, Columbus, OH and College Park, MD.
