Amazon’s Treasure Truck drives deals, fun retail scene
First ‘prizes’ were bargain-priced gaming system
An alert flashed across Elizabeth Wilson’s phone early Saturday. It advertised the Nintendo NES Classic, a notoriously hardto-find gaming system, at a bargain price.
She acted quickly, texting her son in Pennsylvania with a simple question: Is this a big deal? Apparently yes, since he begged her to purchase one for him, offering to reimburse her for the cost of driving to downtown Houston from Spring to get it, as well as buying and shipping the gaming console to him.
“If it’s that big of a deal, maybe I’ll just keep it for myself,” she said as she left a flamboyantly painted blue and gold truck, toting a Nintendo box in a bright red bag.
Wilson was among hundreds of people who weathered Saturday’s searing heat to claim their prizes from the Amazon Treasure Truck, a deals-on-wheels spectacle that looks like part of a traveling circus. Amazon brought the truck to Houston for the first time as part of a nationwide rollout of a new retailing concept, a bet that particularly irresistible bargains will coax even the most habitual online shoppers outside.
“It’s very much like when you were a child and the ice cream truck rolled around,” said Karthik Anbalagan, a director at Amazon who helped develop the idea. “We’re trying to create a fun and whimsical retail experience like that.”
The Treasure Truck is an experiment that combines online ordering and in-person pickup as Ama-
zon looks to expand beyond computer and smartphone screens to physical locations. The e-tailer also is testing other modes of order pickup and fulfillment as it prepares to acquire the Whole Foods grocery chain and expand its food delivery capabilities.
To buy from the Treasure Truck, customers subscribe to alerts on the Amazon mobile app, place their orders and pick from a list of spots to claim them. The truck sells one product at a time, usually at a steep discount. Inventory is limited, an incentive for customers to indulge in an impulse purchase.
Amazon alerted Houston-area shoppers of the Nintendo deal mid-morning Saturday, and within minutes, the news spread from phone to phone. Tech blogs highlighted the offer as one of the few ways to get the NES Classic, which Nintendo discontinued earlier this year, for cheap.
The retro-style gaming system includes nostalgiainducing games such as “Super Mario Bros.” As it has become scarce, the system’s price has climbed, selling in recent months for hundreds of dollars through third-party sellers.
Amazon offered it for $60, the original retail price when the NES Classic was released last year. Gamers raced to claim it.
Andy Andrade drove more than 20 miles downtown from Webster the moment he placed his order. His three kids, ages 9 to 14, had searched for months for the console and didn’t believe he’d actually found one.
“They thought it was a trick,” he said.
The truck is one of many ways Amazon is testing its customers’ shopping preferences as it experiments with everything from brick-andmortar stores to drone delivery. The company has long looked for ways to entice customers with low prices and expand programs such as Prime, its subscription shipping service.
Amazon tested its first Treasure Truck in its hometown of Seattle last year and earlier this month announced plans to expand the concept nationally. On Saturday, the Treasure Truck also made appearances in Dallas, Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta.
Josh Sigler, who lives in Houston’s Heights neighborhood, ventured downtown to snag a Christmas present for his brother. He shops online almost exclusively, but the truck’s element of surprise appealed to him.
“Amazon is building its own buzz,” he said. “It’s testing unique and different business models.”
Mike Lee, who lives near downtown, took in the scene as Nintendo enthusiasts snapped selfies with a truck blasting music and soap bubbles. He rarely shops in stores, preferring the convenience of Amazon’s home delivery. But pickup at the truck proved fast and easy even as a line of more than 20 people formed midday and remained about as long as people came and went.
That convenience “reinforces why I like their customer experience so much,” he said.
Wilson, the Spring mother, plans to keep an eye on the Treasure Truck. “Will all the deals be as good as this?” she said. “I think it’s a neat marketing ploy.”