Matthew DeCarlo
Amazon has teamed up with new retailers to expand its in-store pickup program by thousands of locations. Called “Counter,” the service delivers your packages to local partner locations such as Rite Aid instead of having them shipped to your house.
After a successful launch earlier this year, Amazon reportedly received a wave of positive feedback from retailers who were interested in becoming Counter locations. Amazon has since reached agreements with GNC, Health Mart, and Stage Stores.
GNC is a supplement store, Health Mart is a network of independently owned pharmacies in the US, and Stage Stores is the parent company of 625 department stores, including Bealls, Goody’s, and more, in 42 states. All together, the trio provides Amazon customers with thousands of new locations where they can have packages delivered.
Having a package delivered to a Counter location is as simple as choosing a Counter pickup point near your zip code during the Amazon checkout process. Counter can be used on purchases shipped with same-day, one-day, two-day, and standard shipping speeds. It also doesn’t cost anything extra to have an order shipped through Amazon’s Counter service.
When the package arrives at your local retailer, you’ll get an email notification with a unique barcode along with the store’s address and business hours. You have 14 days to go pick it up and when you head in to get the package, the store staff scans your barcode and retrieves the associated package.
Apparently, the day that you’re most likely to pick up your package is Thursday, according to Amazon’s statistics. And when you do, the participating retailers are simply happy to have the additional foot traffic, which has taken a hit over the years as Amazon and other online retailers have gained market dominance.
Source: Amazon
