Hot on the heels of Australia Post launching its pickup/drop-off (PUDO) network, Amazon Australia has launched its own, called Amazon Hub.

It has worked with Commonwealth Bank, Stockland and a number of newsagents in the Victoria Authorised Newsagents Association (VANA) for the Amazon Hub PUDO network. Initially focused on the states of New South Wales and Victoria, the online giant says that ‘thousands’ of PUDO points are to be set up in the next year across the country.

Patrick Supanc, worldwide director of Amazon Hub explained that missed deliveries are an expensive problem for delivery companies, thus the PUDO network.”We’re still very focused on home delivery and we’ll increase our options for home delivery as well,” Mr Supanc said, “but we’ve heard very clearly from customers that they’d like to have this option and in some cases they need this option.

“We’ve been focused on making sure our pick-up program is highly integrated with the Amazon experience and doesn’t feel like an add on.”

At the checkout customers have the option of choosing a PUDO point, and the website tells them their nearest or most convenient to them. The customer is then sent a barcode for them to scan at a parcel locker or at the collection desk.