Amazon.com is giving customers $10 to pick up a product rather than have it mailed to a home address, as the e-commerce behemoth joins other retailers in slashing costs for home delivery and returns amid sluggish consumer demand.
Amazon has emailed an unknown number of Prime members in recent days, offering them $10 to collect an order of $25 or more at corporate pickup places such as Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh, or Kohl's stores.
There were no comments on the issue from Amazon.
Dean Maciuba, a shipping expert from upstate New York, was among those who received the offer.
Increasing the use of Amazon pickup locations would allow the company to avoid costly home package dropoffs and represents "a huge opportunity for Amazon to reduce the cost of delivery," according to Maciuba.
It also trains customers to submit returns directly to the corporation, he claims.
Separately, Amazon has begun charging some customers a $1 fee if they return products to a United Parcel Service station when there is an Amazon pickup/return location closer to their delivery address, according to The Information news site.
UPS and FedEx have urged customers to use so-called access points, particularly in rural areas where delivering to remote addresses might be prohibitively expensive.
Amazon has spent years training customers to anticipate rapid, no-fee delivery and returns. Following a period of tremendous growth, the company has made many measures to minimise delivery-related expenses across the board.
Late last year, Amazon raised the price of its yearly Prime subscription, which includes free shipping, by $20 to $139. It has also increased the minimum order threshold for free grocery delivery, encouraged customers to have all of their items delivered on a specific day of the week, and expanded faster same-day parcel delivery for purchases under $25.
(Sopurce:www.businessindsider.in)
Amazon has emailed an unknown number of Prime members in recent days, offering them $10 to collect an order of $25 or more at corporate pickup places such as Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh, or Kohl's stores.
There were no comments on the issue from Amazon.
Dean Maciuba, a shipping expert from upstate New York, was among those who received the offer.
Increasing the use of Amazon pickup locations would allow the company to avoid costly home package dropoffs and represents "a huge opportunity for Amazon to reduce the cost of delivery," according to Maciuba.
It also trains customers to submit returns directly to the corporation, he claims.
Separately, Amazon has begun charging some customers a $1 fee if they return products to a United Parcel Service station when there is an Amazon pickup/return location closer to their delivery address, according to The Information news site.
UPS and FedEx have urged customers to use so-called access points, particularly in rural areas where delivering to remote addresses might be prohibitively expensive.
Amazon has spent years training customers to anticipate rapid, no-fee delivery and returns. Following a period of tremendous growth, the company has made many measures to minimise delivery-related expenses across the board.
Late last year, Amazon raised the price of its yearly Prime subscription, which includes free shipping, by $20 to $139. It has also increased the minimum order threshold for free grocery delivery, encouraged customers to have all of their items delivered on a specific day of the week, and expanded faster same-day parcel delivery for purchases under $25.
(Sopurce:www.businessindsider.in)
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