Attack of the (curbside) pods

Palo Alto, Calif. – In science fiction and horror films, the arrival of pods is rarely a good development. But omnichannel consumers will likely be pleased by the arrival of the first Curbside Pickup Pod at the Glendale Galleria mall (a GGP property) in Southern California.



With Curbside, a Bay Area startup providing curbside pickup service, consumers can now shop from stores within the Galleria from the Curbside mobile app and then pick up all of their orders from one central pickup spot – the Curbside Pickup Pod. The Curbside service is free, the app is free and the company does not mark up store prices.



Curbside expanded its service to the New York/New Jersey market at select Target locations last week after launching in the San Francisco Bay Area in fall 2014, and is now coming to Los Angeles, starting with the Glendale Galleria.



The pod features a massive pinhead that lights up with the color designated to a customer’s phone screen so they know when their order is ready (e.g., when an order is filled the phone lights up yellow, and when the customer arrives the pinhead lights up yellow since it’s been tracking the customer’s location and knows they are there).



The Curbside app is connected to the store’s inventory to guarantee availability.