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Wal-Mart To Join Amazon In Providing In-Store Locker Service

Posted by Soulskill on from the blending-of-retail-models dept.

RougeFemme writes "Amazon has been placing lockers in brick-and-mortar retail stores, such as 7-Eleven, for pickup of online purchases. Walmart plans to pilot a similar program, presumably making it easier to pick up online purchases at Wal-Mart. 'Wal-Mart hopes its network of physical stores, which number about 4,000 in the United States, will give it an edge as consumers increasingly use smart phones while they shop. Wal-Mart has been testing the shipping of online orders from a small number of its physical stores for about two years. In 2013, the company plans to expand this program from about 25 stores currently to a total of roughly 50 stores. ... Two-thirds of the U.S. population live within five miles of a Wal-Mart store."

6 of 112 comments (clear)

  1. Goodbye USPS by c0lo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    (self-explanatory subject)

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    1. Re:Goodbye USPS by Xphile101361 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Only if Amazon also feels like buying a fleet of trucks and being responsible for delivering these packages to the B&M locations. Walmart already has a fleet of vehicles, but I would guess that they have a small percentage of the online store sales. I'm also interested to see how they market this to customers. Why would I want to pick-up in store vs having it shipped to my house. Are they going to start charging to have it shipped to a residential address? That could quickly become a differentiator between online stores, as most people that I know only care about the total price of their purchase.

    2. Re:Goodbye USPS by girlintraining · · Score: 2, Insightful

      (self-explanatory subject)

      Amazon is rolling out offering same-day or next-day delivery across the entire country. Why the hell do I want to drive across town to a Walmart to pickup my stuff when I can have a guy deliver it to my door? The country's postal service isn't going anywhere; It's still the only way to legally serve a large number of documents, send bills, etc. No, the only thing the USPS needs to fix is its budget: They need to pare-down their offerings and focus on what they're still needed for: envelopes, small packages, and letter delivery services. Their problem is that they bloated up while companies like FedEx and UPS took over the lucrative markets of large package delivery and organized to provide rapid package services worldwide. Now they need a strategic refocusing... but to say they're dead because of Walmart?

      Please.

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    3. Re:Goodbye USPS by tlhIngan · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No, the only thing the USPS needs to fix is its budget: They need to pare-down their offerings and focus on what they're still needed for: envelopes, small packages, and letter delivery services. Their problem is that they bloated up while companies like FedEx and UPS took over the lucrative markets of large package delivery and organized to provide rapid package services worldwide. Now they need a strategic refocusing... but to say they're dead because of Walmart?

      No, it's because George W. Bush signed a law that stated that USPS must prepay the pension 75 years in advance. Yes, USPS is paying into the coffers of wall street the pensions of people who are not even of working age yet (who of course, aren't employed by USPS yet).

      Until then, USPS was pulling in some pretty hefty profits ($1B or so). Of course, all that and more has to go to Wall Street to manage the pension.

      http://spectrum.ieee.org/telecom/internet/email-isnt-killing-the-post-office

    4. Re:Goodbye USPS by Deekin_Scalesinger · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The way amazon does it in 7-11 is they will mail you a code. Go to 7-11 (if Wawa did this I'd move back to Philly and would never leave their stores), punch it in, and grab yer l3wtz. Just like a bus locker. The dimensions aren't great...10x10x10 or some such.

      Good for me since I get small electronics a lot and really don't want it sitting on my stoop all day in downtown DC...

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  2. Any way to get more people in the store... by bluephone · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Amazon is more likely to be used by people with money to burn, people wealthier than the average WalMart customer. This will get those types into the store, and will certainly result in more purchases by those types. The long term viability will depend on Walmart making the store attractive to those types.

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    jX [ Make everything as simple as possible, but no simpler. - Einstein ]