Amazon Counter lets you pick up packages at Rite Aid

Amazon is launching yet another way for you to collect an order. It’s called Counter and it allows local retailers to store and hand you your order over the counter.

You’d be right to think that Amazon already has pickups from retail stores covered simply by installing an Amazon Locker, but there’s one problem with lockers: not all stores have space to install them. To get around this, Amazon launched Counter, which does away with the locker system and allows retailers to securely store your order in whatever storage space they have available.

As Reuters reports, collecting an order using the Counter system requires a barcode be shown to a member of staff at the store. Your Amazon box can then be fetched and handed to you with no further interaction necessary.

Amazon Counter is new to the U.S., but not a new collection service. It was first rolled out in the UK and Italy, but Amazon saw a niche for it in the U.S., too. For now, Counter will be available at 100 Rite Aid pharmacy locations, but Rite Aid intends to increase that to 1,500 stores before the end of 2019.

According to Patrick Supanc, world director of Amazon Hub, Counter is expected to “become an extensive network” and it works for retailers because Amazon order collection increases foot traffic into stores and therefore the chance customers will buy something while they are there. No retail data is being shared between Amazon and Rite Aid, and there’s currently no details on whether Amazon is paying for Rite Aid to store and handle its orders.

Amazon is very keen to get other retailers on-board so it can offer Counter pickups across the U.S. as quickly as possible.

This article originally published at PCMag
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