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Amazon Launches First-Ever Staffed Pickup Location

Angela Moscaritolo
 & Angela Moscaritolo Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

Our team tests, rates, and reviews more than 1,500 products each year to help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.

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Ordering textbooks and other dorm-room essentials from Amazon is about to get a whole lot more convenient for students at Purdue University.

Amazon on Tuesday announced it has opened its first-ever staffed pickup and drop-off location at the Indiana university. Students can head over to the new Amazon Hub to pick up their online orders, and return any textbook rentals without having to go to the post office.

As an added perk, all Amazon Student and Prime members at Purdue can get free one-day shipping on textbooks sent to the West Layfayette campus. Amazon is also offering free one-day pickup on more than one million items when shipped to its new home within the Krach Leadership Center at Purdue.

"Whether students are ordering textbooks, laptops, or mac and cheese, Amazon and Purdue are now providing a convenient and secure spot for them to pick up their stuff at hours that work with their schedules," Paul Ryder, vice president of media and student programs at Amazon, said in a statement. "We look forward to bringing this experience to more universities soon."

Students, alumni, and faculty at Purdue can activate their benefits over on Amazon's website, or by joining Amazon Student. Once activated, students will be able to identify books they need for class by looking for a badge with Purdue's logo and class information within Amazon search results and product pages. From there, students should simply choose Amazon@Purdue as their shipping address at checkout. When the order arrives, they'll receive an email or text notification.

Amazon has unmanned pick-up locations inside other retailers, dubbed Lockers, and has experimented with retail stores in New York City and elsewhere.

Meanwhile, in the future, your local RadioShack store may become an Amazon pickup and drop-off center. According to a report from Bloomberg, Amazon is in talks to buy some of RadioShack's stores after the electronics retailer files for bankruptcy. Amazon is reportedly considering turning the old tech hubs into pickup and drop-off centers for online customers, and place to showcase its own hardware.

About Our Expert

Angela Moscaritolo

Angela Moscaritolo

Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

My Experience

I'm PCMag's managing editor for consumer electronics, overseeing an experienced team of analysts covering smart home, home entertainment, wearables, fitness and health tech, and various other product categories. I have been with PCMag for more than 10 years, and in that time have written more than 6,000 articles and reviews for the site. I previously served as an analyst focused on smart home and wearable devices, and before that I was a reporter covering consumer tech news. I'm also a yoga instructor, and have been actively teaching group and private classes for nearly a decade. 

Prior to joining PCMag, I was a reporter for SC Magazine, focusing on hackers and computer security. I earned a BS in journalism from West Virginia University, and started my career writing for newspapers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

The Technology I Use

My little Florida beach bungalow is brimming with smart home tech. I have a smart speaker or display in every room, allowing me to control other connected devices by voice. The Nest Hub on my bedside table lets me set wake-up alarms, control my smart light bulbs, and set the temperature on my smart thermostat. I use the Amazon Echo Show 8 on my kitchen counter to browse recipes, reorder protein powder, check the weather, and watch the news while I do dishes. 

Because I suffer from allergies, air purifiers are essential. My favorite model is the Dyson Purifier Cool TP07, which doubles as a fan and continuously sends indoor pollution data to its companion mobile app. 

My pitbull Bradley sheds, so a good robot vacuum is a must. I currently use a premium Ecovacs Deebot that can both vacuum and mop, empty its own dustbin, and wash its own mop cloth. 

For fitness, I like to mix up my routine with cycling, indoor rowing, running, and strength training in addition to yoga. I take classes on the Tonal 2 smart strength training machine, I row indoors on an Aviron machine, and track my beach runs with an Apple Watch while listening to music on my Apple AirPods Pro. On the weekends, I love riding e-bikes like the rugged, beach-friendly Aventon Aventure for fun and fitness.

My job involves a lot of virtual meetings, so a quality webcam, microphone, and ring light are important. I use the Jabra PanaCast 20 webcam, the Elgato Wave: 3 microphone, and a Yesker tripod ring light. 

As for my preferred phone platform, I'm an iPhone person, but I've also extensively used Android for product testing.

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