Jaws hit the floor this morning thanks to a story from the Wall Street Journal claiming Amazon is planning to open up real-life grocery stores.
Old news, if anyone remembers this from 2015, but clearly the plans have developed a little bit – it now has its very own code name, the cuddly sounding Project Como. And of course, Amazon has already opened a physical bookstore in Seattle, and plans to open more in places like Boston, San Diego, Chicago and Portland, with a store in New York also rumoured.
But back to grocery. Should the UK grocers be worried? Not for now. Amazon Fresh is moving at a glacial pace relative to other business units – suggesting that Amazon is finding it a tougher nut to crack than it would like to admit. And look at the way it’s slowly and insidiously creeping into and around Morrisons, like Seattle knotweed. First it took its products. Now it’s moved its lockers in. A move to open a concession in those stores seems more far-fetched. Or it could buy up an independent c-store chain.
But that’s surely months or even years away from happening. So what happened yesterday over in the US to create such a stir?
Apparently Amazon wants to build little c-stores selling a limited range of fresh basics, like milk, cheese and bread, while customers can also use their smartphones or touchscreens in the store to order other (predominantly ambient) items (the WSJ suggested things like peanut butter) that will be delivered to them the same day. It will also – apparently – be exclusively for the use of Amazon Fresh members. Membership costs $15 a month on top of an annual $99 fee.
This sounds like the worst convenience store in the world. It doesn’t sell very much, and shoppers have to pay extra to buy what it does. On the other hand, everyone loves a novelty. If Amazon can bring something new and exciting to convenience retailing, who would complain about that?
The rumoured drive-through locations make a little more sense, though click & collect has divided opinion in the UK, with some supermarkets scaling back and others believing it to be the future.
However, if a grubby old deserted forecourt opened up as a sparkling new Amazon store, there is little doubt it would create interest. It would be even better if, as well as pre-ordered pick-ups, it offered real-time grocery shopping just like a McDonald’s, so a harassed parent with two kids in the back could drive up, buy milk and a frozen pizza, then zoom off again without the agony of car seats and dragging two toddlers around a supermarket.
Everyone involved with grocery will be watching how the situation develops, because even if some aspects of the current (and unconfirmed) plans sound baffling in their execution, one thing is absolutely clear. Amazon’s appetite for grocery remains undiminished. And it will continue to trial new ways of selling food and drink to its existing (and vast) customer base. It won’t stop until it’s happening more and more. And every day it will keep trying to do it more effectively than it did the day before.
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