Amazon Is Rolling Out ‘Instant Pickup Stations’ In Several U.S. Cities

Much of what you’ll find on Amazon.com can be purchased at a brick-and-mortar book shop, department store, or convenience store in your neighborhood or nearby. Part of what makes the retail site so appealing is that it gives you the option to shop online without leaving your bedroom. Now, more than two decades after its inception, Amazon has come full-circle. As Mashable reports, the tech giant is testing “Instant Pickup” stations for shoppers who can’t wait for shipping.

The new program evolved out of Amazon’s existing delivery system. The company already has lockers around the country that customers can set as their shipping address. Now Amazon Lockers near college campuses in Berkeley, California; College Park, Maryland; Columbus, Ohio; Boston, and Los Angeles are being outfitted with digital kiosks that allow visitors to pick up goods moments after they’re ordered.

To make a purchase through Instant Pickup, Prime members can browse through the products available at their closest station through the Amazon app. Inventory varies, but it typically includes most of the essentials you’d find at a convenience store like snacks, drinks, and school supplies. Tech supplies like cables and headphones are also often in stock.

After you select the item you wish to buy, a barcode will pop up in the app. Holding the barcode beneath the onsite scanner will open a locker with your purchase inside. While the transaction does require you to leave the house, it maintains one key trait of online shopping: zero human interaction. Amazon's Director of Student Programs Ripley MacDonald told Mashable that that aspect is intentional. He said, "The original concept had a desk instead of these lockers, and the feedback they [the students] gave us was 'I don't want to talk to people, I want to do it on my phone.'"

This isn’t Amazon’s first venture outside the digital sphere. In the past few years the brand has opened eight physical bookstores and plans to open five more.

Amazon shoppers who prefer the instant gratification of in-person purchases without the chit-chat at the cash register can keep an eye out for more Instant Pickup station popping up around the country. Lincoln Park, Chicago will be the experiment’s next location, followed by more throughout the year.

[h/t Mashable]