It’s called “anticipatory shipping,” and Amazon has a patent on it. In a nutshell, it is a method to start delivering packages even before customers click “buy.”
See, Amazon believes that it has enough data on its customers that it can safely ship your next package before you order it. That data comes from previous orders, product searches, wish lists, shopping-cart contents, returns and even how long an Internet user’s cursor hovers over an item.
I guess if it makes a mistake and ships too many of one product (say, camera) to the wrong zip code, you could expect a fire sales of that item in your area. Yeah! 🙂
Or, you could see a drone hover outside your door with a package you did not order (yet) and a bill to hand over your credit card, or else… 🙁
Could we be entering a brave scary New World where businesses know where we live, what we watch, eat and do — and now even what we intend to buy (even before we click the buy button)?
Read the article at: wsj.