4 ms·

This seems wildly impractical, as the guy pulled the label out that still had a UPS label on it, which indicates that they sent it UPS to this facility which th

by gergles 15y ago

This seems wildly impractical, as the guy pulled the label out that still had a UPS label on it, which indicates that they sent it UPS to this facility which then put it in a locker. If they're going to send it UPS anyway, why not just send it to your house? I can't imagine there are that many people who would rather have to make another trip to go pick packages up vs. having them left at your door (in most circumstances; there are some instances where it's more convenient to have something put somewhere you can access it 24/7 rather than dropped off, but I imagine those are limited.)

jakarta 15y ago
I think it can make sense in specific cases. For example: I live in Boston and a bunch of people don't have cars. If you don't have a delivery service in your building to take and store your packages, they can be left right outside the door which is kind of dicey, especially if you have valuable stuff. Some people at my office just have all their packages delivered at work, which makes sense. But if you are going to have a ton of stuff delivered, or heavy stuff, it can be a hassle to then lug that back to the subway whereas it might be easier to have it delivered to the 7/11 that is just a block away from your place. So like I said, it has specific uses. My guess is that the incremental capital spent isn't much to have the locker system, so why not test it out. Low risk - high uncertainty bet on Amazon's part.
- brianbreslin 15y ago
  Optimal use case is po box replacement. Not everyone needs a po box all the time. Think of this as an ec2 po box. I bet focus groups said they hate not being around when ups guy shows up.
- wtvanhest 15y ago
  I just moved to Boston, I hope they roll it out here asap for the exact reason you state above. Just to show how disruptive it is, the guy ordered batteries and had them shipped to a 7-11 which also sells batteries. I bet 7-11 did not consider cannabolization in their analysis.

by gergles 15y ago

jakarta 15y ago

I think it can make sense in specific cases. For example: I live in Boston and a bunch of people don't have cars. If you don't have a delivery service in your building to take and store your packages, they can be left right outside the door which is kind of dicey, especially if you have valuable stuff. Some people at my office just have all their packages delivered at work, which makes sense. But if you are going to have a ton of stuff delivered, or heavy stuff, it can be a hassle to then lug that back to the subway whereas it might be easier to have it delivered to the 7/11 that is just a block away from your place. So like I said, it has specific uses. My guess is that the incremental capital spent isn't much to have the locker system, so why not test it out. Low risk - high uncertainty bet on Amazon's part.

brianbreslin 15y ago
Optimal use case is po box replacement. Not everyone needs a po box all the time. Think of this as an ec2 po box. I bet focus groups said they hate not being around when ups guy shows up.
wtvanhest 15y ago
I just moved to Boston, I hope they roll it out here asap for the exact reason you state above. Just to show how disruptive it is, the guy ordered batteries and had them shipped to a 7-11 which also sells batteries. I bet 7-11 did not consider cannabolization in their analysis.