That may be the strategy in play with a new Amazon initiative called Amazon Flex. It’s much like a visit to a government office, or Amazon’s Purdue pickup spot – you take a ticket and wait for your turn.
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From the looks of things, this is basically an Amazon warehouse that allows someone to pick their ordered items up, thus eliminating the wait for deliveries to arrive.
It is not fully declared but a recent news by time.com states that, “Amazon has not yet officially announced its new “Flex” service, but a sign at the location gives a hint as to what it may be”. Behind the group of people are visual guides indicating how a person should dress possibly to remind delivery people how to show up when making deliveries.
It appears Amazon’s delivery plans are ready to expand.
Nevertheless, the waiting area could simply be for customers to take a number and pick up their own packages. The company isn’t commenting on Flex (even the test building in Seattle is still in rough shape), but it’s safe to say that this would be limited to areas where Amazon can set up distribution centers.
Drizly, the alcohol delivery start-up which now operates in 17 cities across the US, is active in the Seattle market and probably won’t be too keen to see Amazon looming on the horizon. An alternative is the possibility that Amazon Flex could be part of the rumored crowdsourced package delivery service, where users can opt to help make delivery packages, kind of like how Uber is to taxis. It’s believed that the service may drop deliveries altogether in favor of allowing customers to pick their orders up when they choose, reports The Consumerist.
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Documents obtained by GeekWire suggest that the Kirkland facility, as well as other locations in North Seattle and downtown, are being used to launch Prime Now, Amazon’s one-hour delivery service, in the Seattle area.
