Amazon Treasure Truck is coming for you

With those once red-hot  "Lightning" deals losing a bit of their jolt, Amazon is introducing a new impulse-buy strategy to separate Philly consumers from their hard earned dollars.

It's The Amazon Treasure Truck, a greased lightning bolt on wheels that will land in area parking lots for mere 60- to 90-minute stops, to distribute a single, specially priced "new, trending, local or delicious" item of the day. Could be snazzy sports shoes, a hard-to-find toy, something edible or an action cam at "65 percent off."

Available just to TT devotees who sign up for special text pitches to their mobile phones, users will hear about the deal with a geographically-targeted morning blast. If tempted, "you'll pay for it in advance, then be able to pick it up at a designated spot and time or at any of the other  nearby locations we also visit that day," said a dressed-for-Halloween "policeman"  guarding the refrigerated truck in a landing near our Market Street offices.

What if a treasure hunter is waylaid on the way? Even if it's a perishable item like steaks or seafood, Amazon will "cancel the order at the end of the day and you won't owe anything."

Festooned with circus-wagon style signage and sound, Philadelphia's Treasure Truck  is based at the Amazon Logistics fulfillment center, 4101 Sansom St. But don't take that as a signal of a bigger corporate landing.  Similar deals on wheels  will likewise be cruising this season in two dozen other towns from Portland to San Francisco, Boston to Baltimore.