Amazon quietly announced The Hub on a new dedicated website today. It’s the retail giant’s latest effort to make online shopping as effortless and flexible as possible. The Hub reflects the reality that most residents are often out during the day, when packages arrive.
Amazon’s existing network of Amazon Lockers let you have small parcels delivered to a centralised location, such as a local store or community centre. You can then pick the item up at a time that suits you. The Hub extends this concept a step further, bringing Locker installations to residential multi-tenant housing.
Amazon Hub
Amazon
Amazon wants to see landlords install Hubs at their apartment blocks. You could then have parcels delivered to the Hub and pick them up on your way home. You open your locker by entering a PIN code.
Landlords are free to customise their locker installations with a variety of size and style options. The base configuration is a 6-foot wide grey unit. It can be extended to include more lockers by way of a modular extension platform.
Amazon’s also stressing that Hubs are compatible with other retailers and delivery services. It’s naturally keen for its own customers to be the primary users of Hubs but the lockers can also receive packages from any other courier. This makes Hub more about entirely streamlining online retail than merely simplifying Amazon’s product.
Amazon Hub
Amazon
The move is especially significant as Amazon’s not alone in the residential delivery space. TechCrunch notes that alternatives such as DHL’s Packstation and start-ups Package Concierge and Luxer One are already competing to get their lockers installed in apartment complexes. Amazon’s probably allowing third-party use of its Hub network so it can present itself as firmly on the side of the consumer.
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Amazon’s Hub website describes the system as “convenient and easy to use,” creating a delivery solution “you can count on.” The company hopes landlords will be convinced by the convenience of the Hub, making it an attractive option for their property that wins favour with residents.
The Hub is the latest of Amazon’s efforts to make home delivery more flexible and focused on the consumer. Although Amazon’s initially focusing on residential apartment complexes, The Hub is also designed to fit into office spaces and shared community locations. Interested landlords can get more information on Amazon’s website.
