Amazon expands Counter, a service to search for goods in traditional retail stores

In June 2019, Amazon launched the Amazon Hub Counter in the US, a service that allows consumers to search for their purchases, at no additional cost, in physical stores of partner retailers. It works simply: at the end of the purchase process, the customer selects the desired pick-up location, according to the zip code entered. When the order arrives at the location, the consumer receives an email containing a unique bar code (which must be presented to the store employee to pick up the purchases), as well as information about the establishment in question (address and opening hours). . The customer has up to 14 calendar days to pick up the goods.

Counter is one of the many services offered by Amazon to make deliveries more convenient for the consumer. Amazon Locker was launched in 2011 and today it is present in 900 US cities with around 10.000 lockers. By the end of 2020, 1.000 new locations will be evaluated per month, with the intention of practically doubling that number. Another service was announced at the end of 2017, the Amazon Key, which allows couriers to leave orders inside their home or car.

Initially, the Amazon Counter was available at about 100 locations at Rite Aid, a large US drugstore chain with 2.500 stores. However, the plan is to expand the program to 1.500 stores by the end of 2019. To achieve this goal, 3 more partners were announced at the end of October: GNC (retailer of health and wellness products such as vitamins and supplements, which has a network of 4.000 stores), Health Mart (pharmacy chain, with 5.000 establishments), and Stage Stores (department store chain, with 600 stores).

While Amazon is one of the big reasons traditional retail has suffered so much in recent years, there are indications that pick-up points can increase in-store traffic and impact sales. In 2017, department store chain Kohl's began receiving packages from Amazon for returns at 82 stores in Chicago and Los Angeles. In April 2019, the partnership was expanded to all of the retailer's 1.150 stores. The reason? Research has indicated that in 2018, while an average Kohl's store saw revenue growth of 2%, for stores in Chicago that number was 8%. Stores in Chicago also had a higher percentage of new customers (customers who did not make purchases in the previous year) than other stores.

Another point that draws attention are the partner companies of the Counter program: Rite Aid, GNC and Health Mart. Many believe that Amazon will soon be playing heavily in the healthcare/pharmaceuticals industry. In 2018, it bought PillPack (a startup that coordinates, schedules deliveries and delivers medicines at home according to patients' prescriptions), and formed a joint venture (Haven) with Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase, with the aim of innovating the US healthcare system. In 2019 Amazon also launched Amazon Care, a clinic for Amazon employees in Seattle. Thus, establishing partnerships with large pharmaceutical retailers seems to be another step in this direction.

References:

TechCrunch – Amazon launches Counter in-store pickup in the US, starting with 100 Rite Aid locations. https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/27/amazon-launches-counter-in-store-pick-up-in-the-us-starting-with-100-rite-aid-locations/

TechCrunch – Amazon expands its in-store pickup service, Counter, to thousands more stores. https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/23/amazon-expands-its-in-store-pickup-service-counter-to-thousands-more-stores/

CNET – Amazon wants to double its Locker program over the next year. https://www.cnet.com/news/amazon-wants-to-double-its-locker-program-over-the-next-year/

Chain Store Age – Study: Are Amazon returns boosting Kohl's store performance? https://chainstoreage.com/technology/study-are-amazon-returns-boosting-kohls-store-performance

The Motley Fool – Amazon Takes Another Big Step Toward Getting Into Healthcare. https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/09/25/its-official-amazon-has-getting-into-healthcare.aspx