Are Delivery Lockers a Better Fit for Wal-Mart Than for Amazon.com?

By | December 23, 2015

Wal-Mart already has lots of places to put lockers.

Source: www.fool.com

The lockers are but one component of this, though they aren’t really a new idea. Wal-Mart began testing them two years ago and has been slowly rolling them out into more markets. Amazon also has experimented with them, starting back in 2011, along the way installing lockers in retailers like Staples and RadioShack until the retailers realized they were giving the e-tailer the rope with which to hang them. Amazon still uses them at its campus bookstores, and has partnered with convenience stores like 7-Eleven to have its Click & Collect lockers installed. Amazon says it has hundreds of locker locations nationally and is adding more every day.

Wal-Mart’s advantage is its vast network of brick-and-mortar stores that can serve as distribution hubs for the goods it sells online. There are 4,600 Walmarts in the U.S.  Because Amazon has to rely upon the kindness of strangers to install lockers, it can’t be as integral a component in the universe of shipping options for it as it can be for Wal-Mart.

A locker ultimately is a low-cost way to stay competitive with a tough rival.

Author: craig keefner

Craig Allen Keefner is an industry analyst, content strategist, and longtime authority on self-service kiosks, digital signage, unattended payment systems, and interactive technology. He manages content and industry strategy for Kiosk Industry and The Industry Group, with a focus on kiosk software, hardware-software integration, accessibility, payment compliance, healthcare kiosks, restaurant self-service, and emerging AI automation. Craig has covered the self-service and kiosk industry since the 1990s, tracking how public-facing terminals move from concept to field deployment. His work combines industry research, vendor analysis, operator conversations, standards tracking, trade show coverage, and practical experience with the real-world constraints of kiosk deployments. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kiosk