Amazon planning on doing things Uber-style

[Borgholio]

http://techcrunch.com/2015/06/16/amazon ... mgi7r:Aty2

Amazon is apparently enlisting everyday humans in its network of endless online shopping delivery. The WSJ reports that the ecommerce giant is working on an app internally that would allow the average consumer to make a little cash by picking up Amazon packages at various retail locations and dropping them off at their final destination.

WSJ’s sources did not have a timeline for the release of this product, internally called ‘On My Way,’ and were unsure whether it would launch at all.

Amazon has spent years not only iterating the way it tailors your online shopping experience — the mega retailer has one of the best suggestion engines in the business — but also the way that it gets you your products with speed and convenience.

Besides the standard shipping (or two-day for Prime members), Amazon has fiddled with the idea of letting Uber drivers and yellow cabs deliver products same-day, as well as using bike messengers and third-party delivery services for Prime Now and AmazonFresh, both of which function within hours-long (and not days-long) delivery windows.

The company has even talked about launching a fleet of drones to deliver parcels, though that flight faces its own delays.

Amazon also offers its own lockers program, with pick-up stations in various locations (like parking garages) and 7Eleven stores that are rented out by Amazon. Customers can choose to have their package shipped to one of these lockers for pick-up at their convenience.

The WSJ reports that Amazon would likely use a similar logistics structure for the rumored On My Way app, letting users pick up and deliver packages from a convenient location to make some extra money.

Whether or not turning to consumers to help fight the rising cost of deliveries isn’t clear, but with a handful of huge companies and dozens of startups working on on-demand, same-day delivery, at least one match is bound to catch fire.

[biostem]

This just seems like a liability issue waiting to happen - there's no one vouching for these independent drivers/couriers. Now that I'm thinking of it - is there any stipulation in Uber to allow you to opt out of a ride you ordered, should the one who comes to pick you up either look suspicious, or have some other issue, (like smells bad, car is filthy, animals in the vehicle and you're allergic, etc)?

[bilateralrope]

I really want to know what procedures Amazon is putting in place to discourage the person delivering the package from stealing or tampering with it.

[Ralin]

I really want to know what procedures Amazon is putting in place to discourage the person delivering the package from stealing or tampering with it.

Requiring their copies of their official ID, proof of address and possibly their credit card number would be my guess

[GuppyShark]

Reminds me of delivery contracts from Jita to lowsec...

[Borgholio]

Reminds me of delivery contracts from Jita to lowsec...

Each and every single one of which was a scam?

[GuppyShark]

Those are the ones

[Block]

Can I say how much I hate the idea of same day delivery? If it's that fucking important to have it today, go buy it yourself you lazy entitled shits.

[Jub]

Can I say how much I hate the idea of same day delivery? If it's that fucking important to have it today, go buy it yourself you lazy entitled shits.

What if said purchase is something you can't get locally or at a price local stores can't or won't match? Should you have to wait if a company is offering it the same day from a local wearhouse?

[Purple]

Can I say how much I hate the idea of same day delivery? If it's that fucking important to have it today, go buy it yourself you lazy entitled shits.

Get off your high horse why don't you. Maybe you have all the time in the world to spend window shopping but some of actually have *shock* actual real lives that take up most of our time. Maybe one day you'll get one and than you'll change your tune.

[Block]

Can I say how much I hate the idea of same day delivery? If it's that fucking important to have it today, go buy it yourself you lazy entitled shits.

What if said purchase is something you can't get locally or at a price local stores can't or won't match? Should you have to wait if a company is offering it the same day from a local wearhouse?

If it's something you can't get locally, you're not getting it same day. That's part of the fine print. Regardless, 95% of customers use services like this for toothpaste and other things they could stop and get on their way home.

Purple, your personal attack is cute. I basically have 2 free nights a week between working full time, school and participating in sports. I still manage to date and shop for things I want. Maybe you just have shitty time management.

[salm]

My attention was brought to statistics recently that show that the US has trouble with food deserts esspecially in poor areas. Perhaps one day deliveries could be part of that solution.

[Block]

My attention was brought to statistics recently that show that the US has trouble with food deserts esspecially in poor areas. Perhaps one day deliveries could be part of that solution.

That would be great, the problem is cost, which is why food desserts exist in the first place. I worked at one of the companies establishing a service like this. They weren't interested in marketing to the poor, college kids, the disabled, or anyone else it could actually help because of lack of access to individual transportation. It was all about marketing to the upscale so that advertisers would subsidize the delivery costs. Food delivery also brings in a ton of legal issues if it's a perishable good. Amazon has a separate service for that, as do several grocery chains.

[Purple]

Purple, your personal attack is cute. I basically have 2 free nights a week between working full time, school and participating in sports. I still manage to date and shop for things I want. Maybe you just have shitty time management.

Than how do you not see how someone might not want to waste what little free time he has on something as pointless and dull as shopping instead of something he actually cares about?

[Block]

Purple, your personal attack is cute. I basically have 2 free nights a week between working full time, school and participating in sports. I still manage to date and shop for things I want. Maybe you just have shitty time management.

Than how do you not see how someone might not want to waste what little free time he has on something as pointless and dull as shopping instead of something he actually cares about?

Because it literally takes pulling over for 5 minutes on the way home to buy what I need? I don't know anyone who doesn't enjoy shopping that takes more time than they need to buy something.
I'm not anti online shopping. I'm against the constant drive towards instant gratification and impulse consumption.

[General Zod]

Purple, your personal attack is cute. I basically have 2 free nights a week between working full time, school and participating in sports. I still manage to date and shop for things I want. Maybe you just have shitty time management.

Than how do you not see how someone might not want to waste what little free time he has on something as pointless and dull as shopping instead of something he actually cares about?

Because it literally takes pulling over for 5 minutes on the way home to buy what I need? I don't know anyone who doesn't enjoy shopping that takes more time than they need to buy something.
I'm not anti online shopping. I'm against the constant drive towards instant gratification and impulse consumption.

Nobody's putting a gun to your head and telling you to use the service.

[salm]

My attention was brought to statistics recently that show that the US has trouble with food deserts esspecially in poor areas. Perhaps one day deliveries could be part of that solution.

That would be great, the problem is cost, which is why food desserts exist in the first place. I worked at one of the companies establishing a service like this. They weren't interested in marketing to the poor, college kids, the disabled, or anyone else it could actually help because of lack of access to individual transportation. It was all about marketing to the upscale so that advertisers would subsidize the delivery costs. Food delivery also brings in a ton of legal issues if it's a perishable good. Amazon has a separate service for that, as do several grocery chains.

We have these services here, too. They market their overpriced crap mainly to hipsters and morons.
However, perhaps a logistics giant like Amazon can bring delivery cost down and make it useful for normal people.
They manage to sell all kinds of stuff for less than store price, so maybe they find a way to be at least less expensive than the few overpriced shit stores in food deserts.
You can actually allready buy food on Amazon. Some things are expensive, some not. If one-day delivery is cheap it could be great.

[Block]

I agree, if it were genuinely beneficial to people who are underserved, I'd be all for it. One thing that I have seen, and like, for areas like that is a weekly delivery service. Basically you'll get bulk orders for the neighborhood and have a specific distribution day. Saves on delivery cost and probably drives down food prices if you advance order.

[Purple]

Because it literally takes pulling over for 5 minutes on the way home to buy what I need?

- This assumes you are a driver, which I am not. I use public transport. Plenty of people in the world do. And that does not in fact stop right next to any store at all. Not that it matters either because if you live in a populated city of more than 500 people chances are there won't be a parking slot available unless the store has its own parking.
- Next, it also assumes that there are no lines in that store. Which is frankly ludicrous.
- Than it also assumes that buying is just the process of magically wishing items into your cart instead of trudging through the store for half a hour trying to find it all and pick stuff out.
- Finally it assumes that the store is actually 5 minutes driving and not 5 hours.

Where are you getting your assumptions from?

I don't know anyone who doesn't enjoy shopping that takes more time than they need to buy something.

Well now you do. I despise shopping in all its forms. It's dull, time consuming and generally just a horrible waste of time that I could be using for productive things. If there was a way I could use to just have goods teleported to me in exchange for cash I'd happily pay extra. Not that I have that kind of money, but god dam it I'd save up just to afford it.

I'm not anti online shopping. I'm against the constant drive towards instant gratification and impulse consumption.

And I don't understand how you made the leap between the two. Because you made one hell of a giant leap to get there.

[Block]

Because there is already two to five day shipping available from pretty much everyone, so same day is just conspicuous consumption? It's literally no leap at all.

[General Zod]

We already have thousands of outrageous luxury services, who cares if there's one more that doesn't actually help the average person?

[Purple]

Because there is already two to five day shipping available from pretty much everyone, so same day is just conspicuous consumption? It's literally no leap at all.

You make it sound as if affording your self luxuries is something that is bad. If you can afford something and it makes you happy and does not hurt anyone else than affording your self that luxury is perfectly morally righteous. And this is coming from an admitted cheapskate.

[Jub]

If it's something you can't get locally, you're not getting it same day. That's part of the fine print. Regardless, 95% of customers use services like this for toothpaste and other things they could stop and get on their way home.

For now that might be true, but if there is demand for a service it will expand and start carrying more specialized goods. Plus, who cares what you can or can't get with the service if you find the additional cost to be worth it. It would be a service I'd consider using as opposed to trying to do a large shopping trip without the benefit of a car especially if the same day fee is the same or less than the cost of using a cab to get a large shopping trip home. It would also have a use for those with limited mobility or who otherwise have issues with shopping and/or leaving their home without aid.

I hope the service expands. I'd love it if I didn't need to waste time shopping for things and could instead just fire off a list of needed goods and have it delivered to me. Even better if we get say a clothes fitting app for something like the Kinect so it can find things in your size/price range so instead of just shopping at one store I can look over the inventories of every place nearby that has things in my style and size.

I basically have 2 free nights a week between working full time, school and participating in sports. I still manage to date and shop for things I want. Maybe you just have shitty time management.

So we all need to be exactly like you now? An army of Blocks and Blockettes who think shopping in store is a good way to spend their limited free time...

[Starglider]

Yess, yesssss, zero hours good but not good enough, we can go deeper, deeper into the sub-minimum wage zone. Shed more employees, unemployed idle-benefit-scum will do the work for peanuts, yes even less liability for us, even more risk onto them, and the ssweeeet profitssses, all the more for ussss....

And all while hitting 'sharing economy', 'lower carbon', 'on demand' and other trending buzzwords.

[Jub]

Driving for a living will be gone soon enough as it once self-driving cars and/or more capable flying drones become more mainstream over the decades to come. I think the idea of transitioning in this way might make such a switch less painful than it might otherwise be by driving down the number of people who'll see driving as a career. It's obviously not why Amazon is doing this, but as a knock on effect it isn't the worst thing that could happen.