‘Breathtakingly beautiful’ Amazon Go probably not scalable
Amazon Go is a milestone moment in retail technology and customer experience. And it will inspire retailers around the world to galvanise their efforts in terms of lubricating the shopper journey, particularly in relation to the checkout experience, according to Bryan Roberts, Global Insights Director at TCC Global.
In a LinkedIn post, he talks about how he got to experience Amazon Go on a recent visit to Seattle. “Like the ill-informed buffoon that I am, I had no real comprehension of how the store worked, a quandary that was quickly solved by a lovely Amazon chap who showed me how to change my UK Amazon app to the US version and fiddle around with one or two other bits and pieces. And we were ready to go,” he writes.
In terms of the ‘just walk out’ bit, “well, we just walked out. Clutching a lovely Amazon mug and a bar of chocolate. No queuing, no checkout. Wonderfully quick, wonderfully convenient and more than just a little surreal.”
The store serves as an enjoyable demonstration of Amazon’s prowess in the spheres of tech and research. But is it scalable? “Probably not. I’m relatively confident that the thousands of stores that some experts have predicted will prove to be wide of the mark. The chain has only just reached 15 units in the US and my prediction is that Amazon Go will be limited to a tokenistic presence in major cities around the world, serving as a showcase for Amazon and its boffins.”
“One of my observations is that Amazon Go is a breathtakingly beautiful solution but that no-one is quite sure what the problem is. My local Tesco Express has a much better range and checkout takes me about two minutes maximum, often coming in below 20 seconds. If you can’t afford to spend two minutes of your life buying lunch, then you’re probably doing life wrong,” Roberts continues.
Amazon Go will be an awesome innovation for busy urban folk who wear lanyards and/or EarPods. But it probably won’t be of tangible benefit to a busy mum of four in Warrington, Wroclaw or Winnemucca. “This is a landmark concept in the evolution of grocery retailing and Amazon is to be respected for the blood, sweat and tears that went into its inception. My assertion is, however, that the importance of Amazon Go is what it will inspire, not what it will become,” Roberts concludes.