Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Amazon today (Tuesday May 14) announced the launch of Counter: a new network of staffed pick up points that allows customers to collect their Amazon parcels in-store at a partner location.
Following successful trials with launch partners, Amazon Counter goes live today and will be rolled out across partner stores throughout 2019, including hundreds of Next stores in the UK and thousands of stores in Italy with bookshop chain Giunti and the network of Fermopoint and SisalPay stores across the country.
Next ceo Lord Wolfson said: “The ability to collect Amazon parcels from hundreds of Next’s UK stores provides a helpful and exciting new service for UK consumers. Amazon Counter combines the internet’s power to offer unprecedented choice with all the convenience of local stores. In a tough retail environment our aim is that Amazon Counter will contribute to the continued relevance and vibrancy of our stores.”
Delivery to an Amazon Counter location is available on the tens of millions of items sold on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.it and works with One-Day and Standard Shipping. The service is available at no extra cost to Prime members.
After shopping on Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.it, customers proceed to checkout and select a Counter pick up point as their delivery location. As soon as their package arrives at the store, the customer receives an e-mail notification with a unique barcode, as well as the address and opening hours of their selected store, and will have 14 days to collect their parcel. At the store, customers show the barcode to the partner store staff, who will scan it, retrieve the package, and hand it to the customer.
Counter is part of the Amazon Hub family, which includes Lockers. Patrick Supanc, Amazon director of Lockers and Pickup, said: “With Counter, we’ve used technology to enhance and redesign the click & collect experience.
“We’re excited for customers to experience this service at one of the thousands of stores now available for Counter, but we’re not stopping there. We’re now actively looking to bring even more partners on board across Europe. From family-run corner shops to retail chains, businesses of all sizes can take advantage of the opportunity as we expand the Counter network for customers.”
Amazon Counter at a Next store
