When Amazon launched in the late 1990s, I was finishing off my Undergraduate degree and distinctly remember sitting back from the desk and pondering how Amazon would change the world of commerce.
Amazons’ latest announcement has been a while coming, its now out there. The link below gives you a nice tight overview of one of the newest initiatives by Amazon, the physical retail store without a “normal” checkout. The call it Amazon Go.
Basically, a consumer “logs” into the store via a turnstile-type arrangement. (Think HK Oyster rather than Melbourne MYKI at this point!) The person then picks up items from the physical shelf and the Amazon system adds that item to the consumers shopping cart. On store exit, the basket of goods are paid for via the Amazon online checkout system. Seamless, easy and scary if you are an Australian retailer without an omni-channel plan. (If you have e-commerce and don’t have buy-online-pickup instore then Click and Collect is one of your first defensive moves. See last paragraph for your next action on this point)
Amazon Go Video
This 1:49 video shows the Amazon Go user experience.
This is the link to the article on Wired Magazine. http://www.wired.co.uk/article/amazon-go-walk-out-shopping
Omni-Channel Retailing
Remembering that Amazons Revenue is now north of U$107bn, it would seem as though they have got a few things right in the past.
Omni-channel is about a friction-less buying experience and it applies to B2B in addition to B2C, the traditional e-commerce focus for Amazon and Australian organisations.
If your business has e-commerce up and running and now needs Click and Collect then lets have a confidential conversation on how to approach Buy Online and Pickup Instore.