Amazon lockers on their way to Staples stores -- report
The lockers allow customers to pick up products they buy on Amazon.com, rather than worry about them sitting outside their front doors while at work.
Staples is the latest retailer to get Amazon Lockers, a new report claims.
A Staples spokeswoman yesterday told Reuters that its stores will soon have the so-called "Amazon Lockers" at locations around the U.S. The agreement is an important one for Amazon, which is trying to get more of its lockers into stores around the U.S. Amazon has previously inked deals with 7-Eleven, among other companies, to install lockers.
Amazon Lockers launched last year as part of a strategy to offer a quasi-in-store pickup service, similar to those offered at Best Buy and Wal-Mart. After purchasing a product through Amazon.com, customers can choose to have it delivered to a specified locker at a location where Amazon's service is available free of additional charge. Once delivered, the customer has three days to pick up the product from the locker before it's sent back for a full refund.
Since the lockers are small, Amazon will only ship smaller packages that can both fit into the spaces and weigh less than 10 pounds.
Interestingly, Amazon sells many of the products available in Staples stores. It's possible that some of the items Amazon customers pick up in Staples stores would have been available at the brick-and-mortar retailer's locations.
So, why might Staples be partnering with Amazon? For one, Amazon pays retail partners a small fee to house its lockers in-store. In addition, the company might believe that Amazon customers heading to lockers should increase foot traffic through its stores and possibly increase its own sales.
CNET has contacted Staples for comment on the Amazon partnership. We will update this story when we have more information.