Not to be outdone by Target’s attention-getting news of its pending Grand Junction acquisition to bolster its same-day delivery efforts, Amazon announced a new Instant Pickup program that lets customers grab “essential” items at locker facilities in five cities in two minutes or less.
The program is focused on returning college students but is available to all Prime members.
Among the hundreds of curated items available through Instant Pickup are food, cold drinks, personal care items, technology products and – wait for it – Amazon Echo, Fire and Kindle devices. Prime members can place orders online or through the Amazon app and make last-minute changes if desired.
The first Instant Pickup stations are located in Los Angeles, and Berkeley, CA, Atlanta, Columbus, OH and College Park, MD. Amazon said more locations will go online in the near future. It operates 22 such facilities located near college campuses around the country.
If it doesn’t have to be there quite that fast, Prime members can get same-day and one-day delivery on millions of items in a growing number of metropolitan areas, with free return shipping.