Amazon’s latest venture might sound familiar

Amazon has announced a new instant pick up service, which lets people retrieve items immediately after ordering them, rather than waiting for them to be delivered.

The initiative, planned to roll out across America will allow people to select from a range of fast-selling items that will be permanently stocked in neighbourhood storage facilities equipped with lockers where customers can pick up their purchase as soon as they’ve bought it.

The eagle-eyed among you may recognise this concept. It’s the idea that Argos was founded on.

Of course, the transatlantic exchange – or reinvention – of ideas has been going on for a long time, from financial services and retail to TV and fashion. And this latest reimagining of an old institution has got us wondering what will come next…