Amazon Files Patent for Shipping Items Before Customers Order Them

Ah, c'mon! You know you wanted it. Why quibble just because you didn't order it?

Amazon believes it knows so much about what its customers want that it can anticipate how and when they will buy something. So to reduce the nettlesome delay that may occur from waiting for slowpokes to actually make a purchase, they have patented a technology called 'anticipatory shipping' which enables the company to identify, and ship an item (or two) before the customers actually chooses to buy whatever it may be - and then collect later.

In order to cut down on returns from those consumers not as prescient about their own desires as Amazon's computers, the company will provide promotional offers to 'encourage' them to accept whatever it is that Amazon's algorithms determine you want/need/can't live without.

Anticipating customer purchase decisions has long been the Holy Grail of retail and credit card businesses: it enables them to increase sales and profits by reducing unnecessary inventory and staying ahead of the competition.

The problem, of course, is what sort of abuse may occur as a result. People already struggling financially may be unable both to afford whatever it is Amazon sends their way - and yet be incapable of understanding their rights. One can imagine Amazon providing helpful but insistent advice on financing, but without sufficient clarity with regards to the costs or obligations of returning the unwanted merchandise. This initiative is being launched despite the fact that a population whose household income has stagnated for thirty years may just want and need to cut back despite Amazon's determination to meet its own growth projections.

There is a point at which convenience, presumption and potential abuse intersect. Amazon may have just defined it. JL

William Welch reports in USA Today:

Online retail giant Amazon says it knows its customers so well it can start shipping even before orders are placed.
The Seattle-based company, which late last year said it wants to use drones to speed package delivery, gained a patent last month for what it calls "anticipatory shipping,'' the Wall Street Journal reports.
Amazon, the Journal reported, says it may box and ship products that it expects customers in a specific area will want, based on previous orders and other factors it gleans from its customers' shopping patterns, even before they place an online order.
Among those other factors: previous orders, product searches, wish lists, shopping cart contents, returns and other online shopping practices.
Amazon has worked to cut delivery times as a way of encouraging more orders and satisfying customers, such as by expanding its warehouse network and making some overnight and even same-day deliveries.
Amazon didn't estimate how much delivery time it expects to save, or whether it has already put its new system to work, the Journal reported.
"It appears Amazon is taking advantage of their copious data," Sucharita Mulpuru, a Forrester Research analyst, told the Journal. "Based on all the things they know about their customers they could predict demand based on a variety of factors."
To minimize the cost of unwanted returns, Amazon said it might consider giving customers discounts or even make the delivered item a gift.
"Delivering the package to the given customer as a promotional gift may be used to build goodwill," the patent said.