Amazon wants to be big retailer on campus

Amazon.com is continuing to expand its network of physical pickup points at colleges and universities across the U.S.



Amazon has recently announced agreements to open staffed pickup locations at the The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Akron.



Opening this summer, this 2,509-sq.-ft. space at the University of Texas will be located in Gregory Gymnasium. Additionally, Amazon Student and Prime members will receive free one-day pickup for orders placed by 10 p.m. on more than two million items.



The University of Akron location will also open in summer 2016 and offer free one-day pickup to Amazon Student and Prime members who place orders by 10 p.m. The 1,980-sq.-ft. space will actually be located near the campus. Both new pickup points will also allow students to make returns.



Since 2015, Amazon has opened staffed pickup locations at the following universities: Purdue University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, and University of California, Berkeley, as well as in the college communities of University of California, Santa Barbara, and University of Cincinnati. Amazon also has confirmed agreements to open two more locations in 2016 with the University of Pennsylvania, the University of California, Davis.



Combined with Amazon’s recent opening of an actual brick-and-mortar bookstore in Seattle, this continually growing college pick-up program demonstrates a clear intent by Amazon to transform from a pure-play e-commerce platform to an omnichannel player. Considering how many profit opportunities rest in the brick-and-mortar channel and Amazon’s historic struggles to turn a quarterly profit, a move toward a physical presence makes sense.



In addition, although the college program helps establish Amazon with educated consumers as they prepare to start their careers, is hard to escape thinking part of Amazon’s motivation is to take direct aim at Barnes & Noble Education, which operates bookstores on many college campuses. A widespread dedicated, staffed Amazon pickup program at campuses across the U.S. could inflict a lot of damage on Barnes & Noble Education, which has displayed rocky financial performance since spinning off from parent company Barnes & Noble in August 2015.