Orders Shipped to You Even Before You Click ‘Buy’

Amazon.com knows you so well it wants to ship your next package before you order it.

The Seattle retailer in December gained a patent for what it calls “anticipatory shipping,” a method to start delivering packages even before customers click “buy.”

Amazon thinks that customers may be discouraged from shopping online because of the delay between ordering and receiving purchases, so “based on previous orders and other factors” like wish lists, Amazon would box and ship products to “shippers’ hubs” and wait for orders to arrive, which would drastically cut down on shipping times. The company is calling this “anticipatory shipping.” I don’t know about you, but this idea sounds totally crazy and unnecessary!

Photo: Carl Malamud

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