Now set to roll out in the immediate future, Amazon’s new Treasure Truck is a mobile commerce storefront on four wheels that will soon be traversing the streets of Seattle outside your front door with a one-of-a-kind, “deal of the day” onboard.
Like the fashionable food trucks that are the latest taste in street food, Treasure Truck is all about creating the mobile, “pop-up” consumer experience in your vicinity, but the menu is limited to just one item, the “Sale de Jour,” at a time. For instance, Amazon’s first promoted offering is an inflatable paddle board set, well-stocked on Amazon’s new, mobile “where-house.”
To connect two trends, you could consider Amazon’s Treasure Truck to be the latest experiment in “responsive buying.” Like “responsive design” that tailors a Web interface to your individual device, Treasure Truck tailors its shopping experience to your physical location, making it possible to chase after the daily treasure of choice just like kids on the playground flocked to the neighborhood ice cream truck. In this case, hot buys replace hot days. (That inflatable paddle board set is priced at $99 on the truck, 79% off the retail price of $476.99.)
Treasure Truck is part of the Amazon Mobile Shopping app you may already have on your mobile phone. If you’re in the Seattle area, open the main menu of the app and you’ll see Treasure Truck. Tap to see what’s on the Truck today, buy it, and choose where to meet the Truck to pick up your item. Don’t have the app yet? All it takes is a quick visit to the app store.
To find out what’s on the truck each day, sign up for push notifications, and follow the truck on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram to be the first to find out. You can also open the Amazon Mobile Shopping app every morning and select Treasure Truck from the Main Menu. Once you’re in the Treasure Truck experience, you’ll see the product of the day. Tap to learn all about the product and the purveyor.
If you missed your pickup location and time, you can use the Amazon Mobile Shopping app to find other same-day pickup locations. If you’re not able to make it to another pickup location, you can use the app to cancel your order. Supplies are limited so once the special sale item is gone, it’s gone.
Originally scheduled to go live this week, #TreasureTruck has moved its first offer to a later date. “Thanks for following us and stay tuned,” Amazon tweeted. The Treasure Truck is currently only available in Seattle.
As R. Crumb might say, we hope Amazon will decide to “Keep on Truckin!” [24×7]
