BufferBox was a Canadian start-up company that Google purchased in 2012. It provided customers with parcel kiosks to which they could have deliveries sent. This way, if the customer didn’t want to risk missing a shipment, they could receive it at a unique BufferBox address.
Once the parcel arrived, BufferBox would send an email with a unique unlock code, and customers could pick their delivery whenever they had the time.
The service was available in the Greater Toronto Area in Canada, as well as in San Francisco in the USA.
In February 2014, Google announced they were shutting down the service. BufferBox customers could send packages until March 31st that year, and the shipments had to be picked until April 21st.
In an email sent out to users, Google said they would be spending efforts on other projects. The BufferBox team, learnings, and technology were to be integrated into other Google Shopping projects.
For example, for the San Francisco area, Google already had introduced Google Shopping Express – a same-day delivery service – that later merged with Google Shopping as a delivery option. Another country-wide option for the USA was Amazon Locker Delivery which is still available today.
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