“I’m not a tech guy. I’m looking at the technology with the eyes of my customers, normal people’s eyes” – Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba
Amazon Go, the walk in/walk out grocery store that eliminates queues and shoplifting (supposedly), is gearing up to open the first stores for consumers. Amazon combines everything it has learned from its endeavours (AI, one-click payments, image sensing etc.) and bring it all together to create a seamless shopping experience that has the capacity to change the way we think about grocery shopping. Tim Dunlop writes in a Guardian article that “It is not simply that the technology is causing jobs to be lost. It is that it is changing the relationship between businesses and employees, governments and citizens”. Without diving too deep into The Fourth Revolution lingo, it is important however to realise the budding social issue: how technology have the capabilities to change how we work.
It could be said that Amazon has created a long-term plan with Amazon Go, one that could revolutionize retail industry and bring millions of dollars for Amazon. In the case of Amazon Go, the global mission could be to implement Amazon Go stores in the same way Amazon Web Hosting was implemented for companies’ toolset. This might be terrific in terms of innovation, but it also means that the traditional brick and mortar businesses have to adapt or possibly change entirely their infrastructure. We already see similar effects on marketing industry, where data-driven solutions have taken the front seat and creativity the back seat. However in the marketing case, it’s not necessarily bad news and could empower businesses to be more efficient and more relevant to the consumer.
More information can be found on nerdwriter’s video essay:
Amazon Go is not the only way Amazon is disrupting the markets. Amazon Prime is changing the way we view media. Besides partnering up with major media organizations, the company is now snatching distribution rights and beating major companies such as Sony Pictures Classic, Universal Pictures and Lionsgate. This was exactly the case with Manchester by the Sea. Jason Ropell, head of motion pictures for Amazon Studios says: “We are a customer-centric company, and when you can see a film and say we need to have this film for our customers because it’s great, then there’s no debate”, he says. Whether it’s designing a seamless and a new kind of customer experience or a unique cinematic experience, Amazon are at the forefront of the market.
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