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Amazon Flex

flex.amazon.com

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Re: Amazon Flex

#321

Post by TeMPOraL »

cag_ii wrote: post #318
TeMPOraL wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Poland, one company set up automated package drop points ("paczkomat", portmanteau of "paczka" - package, and "automat" - automaton, machine) in pretty much every big and small city. Couriers deliver packages to them both in the morning and in the evening, and you can pick them up 24/7 with no human interaction required (you get a one-time password via e-mail and text). This is godsend for people who work standard…

Interestingly, Amazon also runs the "Amazon Locker"[0] service in the US, which sounds much like the "paczkomat" you describe. 0. http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=amb_link_366591722_2?encoding=UTF8&node=6442600011

Yup, that's it! See:

http://dailyweb.pl/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Paczkomat-InPo...

Re: Amazon Flex

#322

Post by TeMPOraL »

ekianjo wrote: post #236
scrollaway wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You keep making wiiild claims based on "I don't see it happening (as much as you)". Don't you travel? > I'm obviously talking about local breadshops in cities. they are alive and well, once again, and not going bankrupt. Quality still matters. There's less . There's less of all these jobs you mention. You say in another post "but it won't go extinct" - well no, probably not, they'll still exist in some form. Horse ca…

> This is in effect all over the place. When I went to Berlin I didn't find a single subway train driver. I'm not talking about subways, I am talking about normal intercity trains. NONE of them are automated. Anywhere. Check it out. > "It won't happen" is talk from people who didn't want to accept an eventuality a decade ago. Today, it's happening - putting your hands over your eyes is very much unproductive. I'm not…

You need to ask yourself exactly why it's not happening. It's not because it isn't possible, or because humans are better at operating trains. There's simply a lot of opposition to such ideas, and a lot of entrenched interests with political power that keep machines at bay - for now.

Re: Amazon Flex

#323

Post by Robadob »

cag_ii wrote: post #318
TeMPOraL wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Poland, one company set up automated package drop points ("paczkomat", portmanteau of "paczka" - package, and "automat" - automaton, machine) in pretty much every big and small city. Couriers deliver packages to them both in the morning and in the evening, and you can pick them up 24/7 with no human interaction required (you get a one-time password via e-mail and text). This is godsend for people who work standard…

Interestingly, Amazon also runs the "Amazon Locker"[0] service in the US, which sounds much like the "paczkomat" you describe. 0. http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=amb_link_366591722_2?encoding=UTF8&node=6442600011

Yeah, we have quite a few of those in small shops around the UK (in my city atleast).

Slightly offtopic rant

Amazon offered my universities students union the chance to install some inside the union (e.g. to help students who are at lectures during the day/don't trust flatmates etc), however the union council (who are elected to serve the students interest) voted with a majority against the idea because of how little corporate tax Amazon pays. Ironically, the students union website is hosted on AWS, but they're able to overlook that.

Re: Amazon Flex

#324

Post by mywacaday »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #286
suvelx wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I don't understand, is why I can't pick my delivery slot for free. Everybody has jobs. Everybody finds it annoying to buy something on line. You never know when it's going to turn up. You have to take a day off, and hope your driver is competent at his job. Why can't you just say "I'll be at home on Thursday after 5pm. Call me on #555-333-9999 if you have any issues". Courier delivers the package after 5pm on Th…

In Poland, one company set up automated package drop points ("paczkomat", portmanteau of "paczka" - package, and "automat" - automaton, machine) in pretty much every big and small city. Couriers deliver packages to them both in the morning and in the evening, and you can pick them up 24/7 with no human interaction required (you get a one-time password via e-mail and text). This is godsend for people who work standard…

Same in Ireland, http://www.parcelmotel.com/ Delivers cheaper to Ireland when buying from the UK as a lot of UK vendors offer free delivery domestically. Also allows shipping between their pickup box locations. Oversize items go to a local depo that's open until 8pm so convenient overall.

Re: Amazon Flex

#325

Post by TeMPOraL »

ekianjo wrote: post #174
tokenizerrr wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also more expensive, and I am fine with industrial bread. I know many, many people who only buy their break from the supermarket and that is all industrialized. Bakeries still exist, but many less do than several years ago. For automation to be a success it doesn't have to replace 100% of the market, and it's unlikely for it to ever truly reach 100% for the reasons you mention. But that's fine, it'll just slowly…

Good, then I agree with you. Then I hope you will also agree that "extinction" is too strong of a word, and we use it too often around here while in reality most jobs have a hard time disappearing completely, if at all. On top of that, not sure about where you live, but some supermarkets also have reversed their trend about industrial bread and hire "baker-workers" who actually bake bread on-site (from industrial pas…

I've seen that reversed trend, and it's the reason I go to bakeries - the bread in bakery shops is fresher and better even though they don't bake it on-site, but get it delivered from somewhere (I assume a big industrial bakery providing for the entire city) two-three times a day! The supermarket baked-on-site bread is much worse, and looks like a desperate attempt by supermarkets to keep people buying bread there.

Re: Amazon Flex

#327

Post by speby »

SmellyGeekBoy wrote: post #86
suvelx wrote: post #8

I've got a suspicion that Amazon has been trialling/building this in the UK since their purchase of Yodel, perhaps earlier. A number of times some bloke in a car has turned up and delivered me a package. No uniform, no branding. Just a phone running Amazon software. I can't say it's the greatest experience.

E-commerce companies have 2 points of contact with the customer - the website and the courier. It makes no sense whatsoever to me why there's this ongoing race to the bottom on the courier side of things while companies spend more and more on the website side. I suppose at that point they already have your money, so what if this delivery experience is awful? Yodel are worse than useless, and I can't see this being mu…

This is a massive lack of imagination. I highly doubt the only motivation from Amazon's perspective is strictly about cost-cutting. On its surface, yes, it would be easy to assume this could result in some odd or lesser version of having a major courier deliver your package.

On the other hand, by having Amazon control the to-the-door experience, that gives them incredible granular controls over how things are done, when, by whom, and how they do it, including how they are supposed to treat you at the door (if you're there), what to say, etc. etc. As well as any additional things that could come in the future.

For example, what about a 5-minute tutorial for a new product you just ordered?

These are just the tip of the iceberg that Amazon could do with this.

Re: Amazon Flex

#328

Post by TeMPOraL »

ekianjo wrote: post #254
uptown wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If we're capable of solving the challenges of self-driving cars, finding a way to implement large curb-side or driveway-side mailboxes with cameras and RFID trackers, or a "fetchbot" that retrieves a box from the car and rolls it into the house, seems like a trivial hurdle to overcome.

I have not seen many robots which can walk stairs without falling at 99.99% confidence yet for door-to-door delivery. Investment of the systems you mention are high-investment, not worth it vs the cost of a human operator per hour. this may change as new buildings are being built with such facilities in mind, but I have not heard of anything like that yet. So human deliveries have a pretty good future for the time be…

There's a reason blocks of flats have mailboxes on the ground floor. I predict we'll see a rise of better, automated mailboxes, probably loaded from outside. After solving self-driving there is zero reason to employ a human - are companies really going to keep paying decent salary to dead weight that is occasionally useful to go up the stairs? I don't think so.

Re: Amazon Flex

#329

Post by TeMPOraL »

ekianjo wrote: post #105
kaybe wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think most people would be perfectly happy to walk to the street and open the car with a code they just received per text if that saved them some money.

> I think most people would be perfectly happy to walk to the street Then it's a worse service and you might as well to the local post office if that's the case.

Post offices are much further, you have to wait in lines, not to mention finding a parking spot if you have to drive there, and most importantly, post offices usually work in the day hours. There's little reason for self-driving delivery cars can work 24/7, or at least in a much larger hour span than a post office.

Re: Amazon Flex

#330

Post by gherkin0 »

SmellyGeekBoy wrote: post #86
suvelx wrote: post #8

I've got a suspicion that Amazon has been trialling/building this in the UK since their purchase of Yodel, perhaps earlier. A number of times some bloke in a car has turned up and delivered me a package. No uniform, no branding. Just a phone running Amazon software. I can't say it's the greatest experience.

E-commerce companies have 2 points of contact with the customer - the website and the courier. It makes no sense whatsoever to me why there's this ongoing race to the bottom on the courier side of things while companies spend more and more on the website side. I suppose at that point they already have your money, so what if this delivery experience is awful? Yodel are worse than useless, and I can't see this being mu…

Plus, the established couriers have several useful services that Amazon can't practically replicate. For instance, with UPS/FedEx/USPS I can easily divert all my packages to a nearby pickup point regularly or on short notice, even in a flyover suburb. Amazon will never be able to replicate that[1]. If they ever offer Amazon Flex in my area, I hope there will be a way to opt out.

[1] I'm aware of Amazon Locker, but I don't live in Seattle, the Bay Area, or Manhattan; and dealing with yet another pickup point for a specific merchant just seems like an annoying hassle.

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