This Blunt Chart Explains Retailing's Innovation Gap
These are tough times for retailers. This new Forbes magazine feature takes a close look at the reasons why over-expansion, stalled-out productivity growth, heavy debt loads and bare-bones wages have created hard times that the industry itself may not be able to fix.
One chart, in particular, deserves a closer look. It's the illustration above, which shows a gigantic patent gap over the past 20 years between Amazon . . . and everyone else.
Ever since its founding in 1994, Amazon has been looking for smarter, faster and more efficient ideas that can transform the way we shop. The payoff: nearly 5,000 patents that cover not just the online aspects of Amazon's mighty e-commerce store -- but also a lot of physical aspects of retailing, too.
Try spending a few minutes rummaging through the U.S. Patent Office's list of Amazon filings. You'll encounter a never-ending collection of ideas, such as this patent to ensure that warehouse robots and human workers don't bump into each other. True, a lot of Amazon's patents pertain to its booming computer-services operation, known as Amazon Web Services. But thousands also touch on retailing in both obvious and unexpected ways.
By contrast, second-place Target has won barely one-quarter as many patents since the mid-1990s. Wal-Mart, in third place, has a patent tally that's less than one-tenth of Amazon's tally. Everyone else, in this graphic presentation, is practically invisible.
Associate Director at RBC
7 年Owen zhang
General Partner
7 年Note sure if I would use "number of patents" as a measure of innovation.
SVP Cross-Industry/Cross-Border and Technology at Kantar Consulting
7 年Amazon has placed patents on zepplins, trained dolphins, adhesive tape and other modern wonders in its efforts to behave like any other technology company. That group keeps score with patents so better to match against IBM's 8,000 + in 2016. Retailers as a group have more interest in clean and profitable operations, which tends not to lend itself to patent activities.
Empowering industry leaders to innovate & compete with greater agility. | ?????????????????? ????????????
7 年Fascinating. This really puts perspective in terms of what I observe retailers doing which is very often about undertaking a specific initiative 'in response' to something Amazon has done in the marketplace. Amazon constantly raise the bar - total inventory visibility, home delivery, next day deliver, same day delivery - it keeps going.... Innovating alongside existing infrastructure - people, process and technology - can be difficult but the successful retailers in the age of Amazon will be the ones who master this.
ERP Manager at Nasco Education
7 年IBM does 7000+ patents in ONE year!