Common Wealth Bank of Australia Using Amazon Lockers To Gain New Accounts
Customers in Australia have a new option to pick up their orders directly from their bank. Amazon is installing lockers in several Sydney branches of the Common Wealth Bank of Australia. The decision comes as the convenience of online transactions makes the trip to the bank unnecessary. But CBA hopes the lockers will increase traffic to their physical locations.
Joining the Locker Movement
The Common Wealth Bank of Australia is not the first business to test out the lockers. For example, UK-based Barclays and BBVA Compass in the US also set up the click-and-collect service. As a result, customers can choose to pick up their packages at an Amazon Locker in any participating bank. The service is available 24/7 and only requires a barcode sent to the client’s email.
A representative of CBA, Angus Sullivan, says: “In the lead up to Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas trade, we know many of our customers are jumping online to do their shopping. Our latest Retail Insights Report shows consumers want more control over their deliveries, with 67% of customers rating choice as an important factor, while 49% felt fast and flexible delivery times were essential.
“We have the largest branch network in Australia and we’re thrilled to work with Amazon to deliver innovative technology-led solutions to our customers that help make their lives easier.”
Customers Choose to Pick-Up
Buy Online Pickup In-Store (BOPIS) services are a popular choice among US consumers to avoid shipping costs. In addition, the products usually arrive faster, and buyers have a chance to see their product before taking it home.
These same benefits will likely appeal to Australians as well. In fact, the Common Wealth Bank of Australia hopes the lockers will convert more clients. Likewise, the bank needs more customers at their physical branches to justify the cost of upkeep. But clients can easily take care of their accounts online, avoiding a trip to the bank. As a consequence, less people go to the bank.
Competition in the Digital Age
Australia’s “Big Four” banks are competing with four other ‘neobanks’ such as 86400, Judo, Volt, and Xinja. Particularly, these new banks agreed only to target clients from ANZ, Australia Bank, CBA, and Westpac. However, the neobanks operate mostly digitally, which means banks like CBA can use their physical locations to their advantage.Providing services such as Amazon’s lockers are one way to compete with the new digital banks. Specifically, the more a client can do at a bank, the more they are willing to actually go there. This is one example of how banks like the Common Wealth Bank of Australia are competing in the digital age.
