Amazon Lockers Removed from Radioshack and Staples Outlet due to Competition
RadioShack and Staples Outlets have removed the Amazon Lockers after a year of letting the online shopping site drop off the customer ordered items in lockers.
Amazon lockers were assigned pick-up lockers for the Amazon shoppers or a form of delivery for the online shoppers. So if they had decided to buy something from the online retailer, they could have an option for these items to be delivered to the lockers so they can pick them up for convenience. The Amazon lockers were also a step for the online retailer to stop theft when their delivery guys leave the items at entrance when nobody's home.
The partnership of Amazon to RadioShack and Staples came as a shock at first and was seen as a desperate move. It is public knowledge that these shops are offering the same type of stocks that Amazon carries, which is the problem that they are encountering now, stiff competition. The shops had hoped that the partnership will eventually bring people into their stores and consequentially have some sale on their end. Unfortunately, it didn't work out as expected.
RadioShack, in a report by Bloomberg, said that the Amazon lockers "didn't fit" with their strategy in this critical time. Their target is to reduce clutter and focus the attention on displays, which was an effective strategy with their Apple promotions.
It is said that online shopping sites such as Amazon had "undercutted" RadioShack and it had a massive declining effect on the electronic store's sales equivalent to $200 million worth. Staples, on the other hand, has also been experiencing the same fate: its sales slid down even though it had some of its products posted on the Amazon Web site. Staples and RadioShack might have improved in stocks but compared to Amazon it looked a tad tiny. Staples is at $15.12 and RadioShack at $4.15 while the online giant is at $312.03.
Amazon still had no clear plans to place a retail location despite rumour surfacing since February that they would open a store in Seattle.
Amazon lockers are still available in selected 7 Eleven outlets.