You’ve been stuck in traffic, dreading those delays from the extensive construction on our nation’s interstates all year. Maybe, just maybe you’ll appreciate one of the benefits resulting from all that pain: a new shipping strategy that will give over 80% of American’s same-day shipping from everyone’s favorite retailer, Amazon.
Yep. Believe it or not, Amazon is breaking the mold and yet again exceeding our expectations by taking the step that no one could ever believe. And all of this using a technology you’ve probably only recently seen at the drive-through at the bank, pharmacy and other stores from way back in your childhood.
That technology goes by a name: pneumatic tubes
Essentially the whole process will work like this: for eligible customers, after placing your order and the 15 minute rescission period (to allow for cancellations and changes to the order), the warehouse closest to your home will pick the product off the shelf using their automated robotic system.
The package will be packaged tightly and prepared for shipping via vacuum tube. Yep, you heard it right – vacuum tubes – from their warehouse to the city nearest you. Once the package has arrived (max travel time up to 1-2 hours), the local shipper will load it on a truck and have it on your doorstep before nightfall, in some cases just a short number of hours after shipping.
The technology has been around for a while (since the middle of the 19th century) but is now being used by one of the world’s most innovative countries to break their prior speed shipping records. Who knew that the old paths would forget the new ones?!
So you ask, what does this new shipping strategy have to do with construction? Let’s just say that judging the amount of construction around us (seriously elated over here that all my extra hours in rush hour traffic might pay off by getting my orders an extra day earlier), Amazon has been quite busy.
As this is slated to be released in Fall 2017 (just in time for the holiday season) they haven’t released the pricing structure. But it does appear that Amazon Prime members (don’t forget to check out all the awesome benefits) can expect, per normal, a nice rate to fit their pocketbook.
Finally, this could open up a huge market for Amazon. With multi-hour shipping now in their sights, Amazon Fresh might be around the corner for over 80% of the nation’s population. Plus this just might be what the doctor ordered – or rather a pharmaceutical direction for Amazon to fulfill prescriptions for customers that require same day shipping.
No matter the application you know Amazon will be the first to embrace and release it.
Check out this video for a quick summary on just how the pneumatic tube technology works. And maybe, just maybe how other companies might leverage this same infrastructure (meaning money in Amazon’s pocket and even cheaper shipping rates for you) in the future.
Disclaimer: Please note that this was written purely for entertainment purposes. While we both know this article if for entertainment purposes only, this statement serves as a request to one of our favorite companies to fill us in on some of their revenue stream if this technology ever does take off. 😉
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