Amazon is looking to further simplify the process of grocery shopping for its customers, specifically the Prime ones, with the debut of its latest effort called AmazonFresh Pickup. This new service, which has been launched in beta only for Amazon employees in Seattle, enables them to conveniently order groceries from the comfort of their homes. But wait, there’s a catch!
The e-commerce giant won’t deliver the same to your house, not even using its Prime Air drones (which are currently banned in the United States). Instead, you will have to visit Amazon’s new drive-in pickup stations to receive the order – placed directly in the trunk of your car. And you can be on the way back home within minutes (or even seconds) if there’s no wait time, which isn’t expected from the e-commerce giant. But, this is currently an experiment and will help the company better the efficiency of its drive-in stations.
Using this new service is extremely simple as you just need to order stuff, like you usually would, using the Amazon app. You can not only place an order from your home or while on-the-move but also choose from a collection of items like fresh produce, high-quality meats, bread, dairy and a range of everyday essentials, among others.
Further, the service then allows you to either schedule a pickup time or go and grab the order in as little as 15 minutes. Yes, an Amazon employee will bag your groceries and bring it to your vehicle in just 15 minutes. He’ll also load it up in the trunk or the back seat of the car, wherever you want it placed inside the vehicle. And what’s even impressive, there is no order minimum. So, you could want just a bag of Doritos and it will be brought to your car.
The AmazonFresh Pickup service comes bundled with your existing Prime subscription, for free. This means you can benefit from yet another significant addition to the existing arsenal of Prime’s feature arsenal. It is currently restricted to the company’s AmazonFresh Pickup locations in the SODO and Ballard neighborhoods in Seattle. There is currently no information on when Amazon will open the service for the general populace. But, you can sign up to get notified.
Here’s an instructional video of how the AmazonFresh Pickup service will work in the real world:
This development adds to the list of new physical services that the public is waiting to try out from Amazon. Today, a report suggesting a delay in the official public launch of Amazon Go, the cashier-free grocery stores has surfaced on the interwebs. The company is said to be faced with certain technical challenges in tracking people and products within the store, so we’d have to wait for a while.
Well, how impatient are you to experience the shopping experiences of both AmazonFresh Pickup and Amazon Go? I just cannot wait to whip out my smartphone and try them out, once they become available. Comment your thoughts down below.
