What’s the downside to immediate gratification? A lack of appreciation and the loss of anticipation.
Normally, my blogs center around issues facing the trucking and truck leasing industry and, to some extent, today’s blog continues to do so, but only peripherally. Philosophical musing isn’t normally my milieu but a February article in Transport Topics, “Amazon Wants to Drop Packages by Parachute” has been on my mind for a while.
The article discussed the ever-evolving methods of delivery employed by Amazon to improve their customer service. The goal is to deliver packages by drone and then drop them at the customer’s door via parachute. There are a variety of devices that will be used to ensure safe and accurate delivery including pneumatic actuators, electromagnets and other devices to establish a safe vertical descent. The article states, “The company’s drone delivery service, Amazon Prime Air, is designed to deliver packages 5 pounds or less via drone within 30 minutes.”
30 minutes? Have we actually gotten to the point in our lives where waiting a day, two days, or even a month for something to be delivered is just too painful for us to experience? One of the greatest virtues we possess as humans is the ability to practice patience. And by doing that, by being willing to wait, though not too long, for rewards is often a reward in itself.
Think back to your childhood days on the week before Christmas….dying to know what your presents would be. Remember that anticipation and the immense satisfaction you received when Christmas morning came and those brightly colored packages were opened? Now imagine that instead of opening those packages on Christmas morning, you opened them as each one arrived. Instant gratification or a sense of relative boredom by the time Christmas morning arrives? Anticipation and appreciation or ho-hum, bah humbug?
Look, progress is wonderful…and anything that can help us improve our performance and our duty to our customers is welcome. Amazon has literally rewritten the book when it comes to customer service and it’s made those of us in both B2C and B2B work harder to make our customers happy. One of those ways is quick, reliable delivery of goods. But if I can’t wait longer than 30 minutes to get some corn holders, new shoes, or some other non-essential-to-my-existence item, then maybe it’s time to question my priorities.
By the way, Amazon’s next idea? According to the Transport Topics article, “In late December, a separate patent was uncovered detailing Amazon’s desire to create a flying warehouse hosting drones and packages.”
Read the full Transport Topics article.
