Amazon's first staffed pickup spot lets students get textbooks quickly
Sure, Amazon has unmanned delivery lockers to save you the trouble of waiting for a courier, but that human touch could come in handy sometimes. What if you need help with a return, for instance? That's where Amazon's first-ever staffed pickup location, Amazon@Purdue, promises to come to the rescue. The location lets university students and faculty both pick up their online orders and drop off returns (including textbook rentals) in a helpful, trustworthy place -- you shouldn't have to worry about someone swiping your new laptop while you're in class. It's potentially faster, too, as some products qualify for free one-day shipping to the Purdue facility.
You probably won't see these staffed locations outside of a campus all that soon. The next facility is coming to another Purdue building in the spring, and the current focus is on spreading this strategy to "more universities." With that said, watch this space. Bloomberg understands that Amazon is considering buying some of RadioShack's poorly performing stores to both offer pickup locations and show off its own products, so you may not have to be an academic to enjoy these perks in the future.
