Amazon is having a big impact on college campuses. On Tuesday, Amazon announced a partnership with the University of Pennsylvania, in which a new central clearing facility on the campus will be opened. The partnership is being called Amazon@Penn.
Students at the college will be able to go to the facility to pick up and return their orders from Amazon. Many have described it as one giant Amazon locker for college students. Representatives from the University of Pennsylvania have stated that more than half of the packages that arrive at the college mailrooms are sent from Amazon.
The online retailer has already established similar locations at the University of Massachusetts and the University of Cincinnati. In the near future, the company will also open locations at the University of California Davis and the University of California Berkeley sometime this year.
Amazon is also known for its initiative of offering the popular Amazon Prime program to college students at a reduced rate. College students are charged only $49 per year for Amazon Prime, which is less than half the usual rate of $99 per year. Amazon Prime offers subscribers free two day shipping, music and video streaming options and more.
However, such programs and initiatives have brought about some challenges for college campuses. It has been reported that many college mailrooms have been overwhelmed by the vast amount of packages that are shipped from Amazon. Many of these college mailrooms are only designed to accommodate letters from home, and they are running out of places to put packages. With the Amazon Prime Program, many students eschew brick and mortar shopping for online shopping from Amazon.
But while college mailrooms are being overburdened, Amazon has to be strongly enjoying its success. The company has found perfect match in the college crowd, where young students want to order goods conveniently, quickly and with little effort. Expect the trend of students using Amazon to only grow larger over time.
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