Will Amazon ship items before you've even purchased them?
Amazon has patented 'anticipatory package shipping,' which would ship an item before a customer bought it based on the customer's previous purchases, wish list, and other factors.
A worker pushes a trolly inside the Amazon fulfillment center in Peterborough, England.
Phil Noble/Reuters
Yes, Amazon currently offers suggestions for other products you might like based on what you鈥檝e previously purchased.
But will the bookselling giant now ship items before you鈥檝e even bought them?
Amazon recently patented what is called 鈥渁nticipatory package shipping.鈥� Through the system, the company would ship items based on such factors as a customer鈥檚 wish list, the purchases they鈥檝e made before, and how long a customer鈥檚 cursor stays over a particular item, according to .
Then the item could stay on a truck or at a nearby hub until the order actually takes place, if it does.
What would happen if a customer didn鈥檛 actually want the item? According to the patent, the company says it could give the item to a customer as a gift anyway or give the customer a discount on the item to prevent a return that could be expensive.
It all comes back to Amazon wanting to get purchases to customers as quickly as possible 鈥� the company stated in the patent that it sees wait time for shipping as something that 鈥渕ay dissuade customers from buying items from online merchants.鈥�
When contacted by the , an Amazon spokesperson declined to comment.
Of course, Amazon may not move forward on this idea. But if they do, it remains to be seen how the public will respond. Is anticipatory shipping convenient 鈥� or intrusive and off-putting?