Last year Staples launched a partnership with Amazon where Amazon placed lockers in selected Staples locations.  This feature appealed to customers who were concerned about delivered packages being stolen. Staples initially began this partnership with the hope that when customers came to retrieve their merchandise from their locker that they would stick around and shop at Staples.  However, Amazon is quickly becoming a major competitor for Staples and Staples did not achieve the sales it expected from the partnership.  Staples has now decided to no longer offer the Amazon lockers through its stores.

RadioShack also had a similar partnership with Amazon, but recently announced that the program didn’t fit with RadioShack’s strategy.  RadioShack announced that it would remove the Amazon lockers from its stores in order to make room for improved displays of top selling brand items like Apple and Samsung.  RadioShack is feeling the pinch of online retailers like Amazon undercutting it on price and selection and has incurred a net loss of more than $200 million in that period.

Discussion Questions:

1. Why did Staples and RadioShack yank Amazon Lockers from its stores?

2. Using 20-20 hindsight, was this a good idea?

 

SOURCE: Matt Townsend and Chris Burritt, Bloomberg Business, September 18, 2013