Amazon to Launch New Grocery – Store Business

Amazon, a company known for its innovation and diversification, is introducing the world to a new concept which is set to open its first location by the end of the year. Amazon will be combining the best characteristics of customer service, e-commerce and physical retail all into one store.

Amazon has built their foundation upon being a leader in the technological revolution of online shopping and exemplary customer satisfaction through logistics.  Starting off as an online book store then slowly differentiating its brand by accumulating electronics, video games and clothing, the corporation now plans to focus their efforts on tangible retail serving as threat to the conventional neighborhood market.

Amazon is taking meticulous steps in planning their marketing mix for their new venture, Amazon has decided that these grocery stores will not be in direct competition with the company’s recent purchase of the premier, Whole Foods Market chain, but is shifting its target market to better suit a mediocre customer segmentation. Unlike Whole Foods, Amazon’s new grocery stores will not have any limitations on the sort of goods it can sell and will have the opportunity to change out what the stores will carry, providing a wider product variety than their competitors. Yes, it will be a physical store but will aim at providing a fast and painless shopping experience to the consumer by means of cashier less transactions and a coordinated parking lot to assist faster visits, satisfying the urgency and convenience of customers.

Bob Phibbs, CEO of The Retail Doctor states, “Ninety percent of groceries are still sold in brick-and-mortar,” Phibbs said. “Now, they can take that (information) and leverage that. It’s taking all their knowledge and data and having more of a laboratory that makes them more money ... If I were Kroger, I wouldn’t be sleeping tonight.” This latest Amazon idea grasp my interest because it resonates with the fact that they are always able to take a staple of human daily life, such as grocery shopping or buying clothes, and turn it into data driven customer service. They are able to change the fundamentals of our nation one step at a time.

   

https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-to-launch-new-grocery-store-business-sources-say-11551461887?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=5

By Esther Fung and Heather Haddon

Updated March 1, 2019 7:08 p.m. ET