The Time Has Come for the Amazon Go Model

In a few years, we’ll look back and chuckle at ourselves for having to ask “So, how does that Amazon Go store work?” Similar to our reaction looking back at that “What is the Internet, anyway?” Today Show clip from the mid 90s.

For those not reading this in 2021, the CliffsNotes version of the new Amazon Go test shop in Seattle is that it’s Amazon’s brick and mortar store that has no checkout lanes. As you enter the store, you scan your Amazon app so it can access your Amazon Prime billing info and learn who you are. Then, simply grocery shop as you normally would. Thanks to the cameras that track your every move since you scanned in, once you’re done, you simply walk out. Shortly after leaving the shop, Amazon emails your receipt.

No need to stand four people deep in a check-out line, only to have it close just as you get to the front. Nor do you have to spend twice as long trying to get the self-checkout machine to properly read the weight of those three apples you no longer want to buy because you have to wait for an attendant to finish up with another guest so they can come over and unlock your stumped machine. You don’t even need to stop at the exit to let someone with a highlighter pretend to review everything in your cart to verify that it matches all of the items on the receipt. Come on. They’re merely pretending to check. We all know it.

Checking in, rather than checking out. It’s genius. Why? Because now, it almost doesn’t even matter to the store if you purchase anything. Amazon reportedly makes more money on the data it currently gets and stores than on the purchases made online. Data is gold, and this opens up a whole new goldmine to brands, and therefore marketers.

Brands are craving that sort of data. Who is there? What you’re browsing. What you’ve considered, but set down. Even if you don’t buy something in this shop, valuable info is still being gathered. Suddenly, there are all new retargeting capabilities beyond just what you’ve clicked on in your website or on a social media post. That opens doors to all sorts of new digital and social connection strategies that can meet or create moments of need.

That’s just the start of the many brand opportunities to connect and reconnect with your potential customer. But remember, it’s really about the customer. And for customers today, experience is paramount. Brands that improve and spotlight their experience, are able to elicit an emotion and connection with their audiences.

People began shopping on Amazon.com because of the convenience and because they could have anything ordered and shipped to their home without having to put on pants. This was mostly unheard of at the time (ordering anything you could dream of online, not the wearing pants part). Then they shopped Amazon even more because they could have their purchases arrive within a couple of days at no additional cost. And then the grip got tighter because you could have it shipped to you within a matter of hours, even. Constantly leveling up the customer experience. And so, layering on the in-person convenience of walking in, walking out without standing in those long check-out lines, that’s the natural extension for impulse purchases and urgency.

It’s also the way these brick and mortar brands on the verge of going belly up can try to make it -- by improving the tech that will improve the customer experience. It isn’t using technology for the sake of using technology. Making your print ad come to life is fun for four seconds - if you’re lucky. And then it’s never used again. Use technology in order to improve the customer experience, which will result in more customers being willing and able to come in and out your doors.

Starbucks has always been great at this. Starbucks is perhaps the best tech company that isn’t a tech company. Amazon likely learned a lot from the Starbucks experience. Starbucks embraced the customer experience very early on. Even as the economy crumbled a decade ago, that could very easily have been the demise of Starbucks. When people are paying $4 or $5 per gallon for gas, suddenly standing in line for that $5 latte seems even less wise. But it was during that time that Starbucks heavily invested in their app, just as smartphone adoption emerged. Store your gift cards on your app. Earn and track your rewards with your app. Pay with your app. Everything conveniently in one place; that place being the palm of your hand. Not only did Starbucks not crumble, but the customer experience become stronger. Still, Starbucks saw the one big negative that remained for the in-store experience. That line. So they eliminated it. Or rather, eliminated the necessity to stand in line. Allowing customers to order from the app and have their coffee waiting for them when they arrived, it was the perfect marriage of technology and customer experience. Walk in, grab, walk out.

The concept is simple, but the technology behind it and the Amazon Go shop experience are anything but. However, that infrastructure is being built and those who think through and prioritize customers’ experiences with the brand will benefit from it. Ultimately, it’s about spotlighting and improving the experience. That path looks different for every brand.

We’re only on the ground floor. I, for one, am excited to see how this landscape turns out. As a consumer, but also as a marketer and what all of this data continues to mean for where we’re able to take our content and targeting strategies. We have a tremendous opportunity -- and responsibility -- to do so in meaningful ways that are useful rather than intrusive to customers.