Trisha Shetty (Editor)

BufferBox

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Owner
  
Alphabet Inc.

Founded
  
2011

Parent organizations
  
Google, Alphabet Inc.

Website
  
BufferBox.com

Acquisition date
  
November 30, 2012

BufferBox httpslh3googleusercontentcomK3kCfXXXAVAAAA

Headquarters
  
Kitchener—Waterloo, Ontario

Area served
  
Greater Toronto Area, Kitchener-Waterloo, San Francisco

Profiles

Bufferbox never miss a delivery again


BufferBox Inc. was a Canadian startup from the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada that leveraged parcel kiosks to provide consumers the convenience of picking up their online purchases 24/7. Founded by Jay Shah, Aditya Bali and Mike McCauley, BufferBox's mission was to make missed delivery notices a thing of the past. When consumers signed up for the service, they received a unique 'BufferBox address' to use as their shipping address when shopping online. Members then received an email notification with a unique unlock code as soon as their package was delivered which enabled them to pick up their package from their local BufferBox.

Contents

One year after its founding BufferBox was awarded the 2012 Velocity Venture Fund, and went through the Y Combinator program in Silicon Valley. After conducting a pilot trial at the University of Waterloo, the service expanded to various locations in the Greater Toronto Area. A deal was announced in early November 2012 to install kiosks at GO Transit stations.

On November 30, 2012, BufferBox was acquired by Google for a rumored $25 million. The acquisition was seen as a step to compete with Amazon's Locker service. Google Waterloo engineering director Steve Woods said the BufferBox team — which consisted of seven employees beyond its trio of founders — would be kept intact, with Google providing additional resources to help the company grow. Google advised at the time of the acquisition, that they planned on keeping the BufferBox brand active for the foreseeable future. However, on February 21, 2014 Google announced that it was closing down BufferBox. The last day for warehouses accepting packages was set to March 31, 2014.

How to use bufferbox uw


How to use BufferBox

  • Shop Anywhere Online: Sign in using your Google Account to get your personal BufferBox address
  • Ship to BufferBox Address: Enter your BufferBox address on the checkout page whenever you buy online
  • Pick-up Your Parcel: You'll receive an unlock code by email. Then, pick up your parcel anytime you'd like
  • Competitors

  • Amazon Locker
  • DHL Packstation (Europe)
  • InPost lockers (mostly Europe)
  • Post-office box
  • The UPS Store mailbox
  • uCella
  • Swapbox
  • References

    BufferBox Wikipedia