Amazon to introduce parcel pickup in the UK

Amazon will be introducing parcel pickup in around 5000 locations across the UK, courtesy of a partnership with courier service Collect+.

Amazon has already been trying out a locker service — wherein you can retrieve your package from an Amazon locker using a one-time-only code — in several cities in the US and London, but this new scheme will have a much wider reach.

Parcels will be delivered to stores that open late, such as convenience stores and newsagents, thanks to courier service Collect+.

According to The Telegraph, Amazon has already trialled the service on a small scale, and is now set to roll it out across the UK.

The aim is to make ordering from Amazon more convenient; for example, if you're not home during normal delivery hours, it will save having to stay in to await delivery or having to pick up the delivery notification slip and take it to the post office. It could also be useful for Amazon customers who aren't allowed to have parcels delivered to their workplaces.

Although the service is being decried as dangerous to brick-and-mortar stores by driving more of the consumer base to online shopping, it seems to us that the service will alleviate that by driving potential foot traffic into the partnered stores.

What do you think about Collect+ Amazon? Good for everyone or another nail in the coffin of brick-and-mortar?