Amazon’s ‘Treasure Truck’ Combines Flash Sales and Storefronts
The Web retailer unveiled June 25 the Treasure Truck, which carries paddle boards, porterhouse steaks and other discounted items that people can buy online and pick up when the vehicle is nearby. Amazon’s mobile app will tell shoppers what’s on the truck each day and list pickup times and locations in Seattle, where the company is based.
While Amazon has daily deals and flash sales on its website and has experimented with temporary physical stores, the marketing stunt effectively merges them. The initiative is designed to lure shoppers to marked-down merchandise in a short window of time and get goods into their hands as soon as possible.
While the Treasure Truck has been spotted on the streets of Seattle this week, it will be open for shoppers starting June 27, the company said.
“It can only work in densely populated areas like New York and Chicago,” said Victor Anthony, an analyst at Axiom Capital Management in New York. “It’s all about getting as close to customers as they can get.”
The Treasure Truck also is designed to increase Amazon’s day-to-day engagement with customers on mobile devices while creating demand through flash sales. And it lets Amazon share the costly last mile of delivery with shoppers, who will have to go and pick up goods at a set location rather than having them delivered directly to homes and businesses.
Amazon has been pushing for quicker order fulfillment with one-hour deliveries in New York, Miami and a limited number of other big cities. Amazon also competes with Groupon Inc., Zulily Inc. and other daily deal websites, offering shoppers flash-sale items and discounted services.
