HANCOCK COUNTY — The e-commerce giant Amazon recently brought its service to the county that provides a secure location for shoppers to pick up their packages.
The new Amazon Locker stands outside of NineStar Connect’s North Campus and Idea Co-op, located at 2331 E. County Road 600N.
When ordering from Amazon, shoppers can select the Locker as a delivery location. After being notified that their package has arrived, the consumer heads to the Locker and scans a bar code on their smartphone that Amazon sends to them, which pops open the door of a container holding their order.
“You get your package, shut it and you’re done,” said Ross Ferson, chief technology officer for NineStar Connect, a Greenfield-based utility co-op.
The draw of an Amazon Locker, Ferson said, is that they prevent packages from being stolen off porches and family members from catching glimpses at gifts.
Lockers can be used to return packages as well. It’s a lot like receiving an order, but in reverse: Scan a bar code, a door opens, place the package inside. The Locker is filled with containers of different sizes. If the one that opens is too small, indicate a larger one is needed and one will open.
Ferson said the Locker is available 24/7.
“It’s just a community service that is not here, so we wanted to provide it,” he said. “…Amazon was happy to do it and we were happy to work with them to provide that community service.”
It didn’t cost NineStar anything to install, Ferson continued.
“Amazon took care of it all,” he said.
A NineStar employee submitted the co-op’s four locations to Amazon as sites for Lockers more than a year ago, Ferson said. He added Amazon liked that the site at NineStar’s north campus is accessible 24/7, covered by a roof, well lit and is on a walkway that has a ramp permitting wheelchair access.
It’s been up and running for a couple weeks now.
“From what we understand, it’s been used quite a bit already,” Ferson said.
He added NineStar is trying to get Lockers at its other locations in Greenfield, McCordsville and Knightstown as well.
