The Secret Plan Behind Amazon Go
For CES this year I booked my stay at the Red Rock Casino Resort. At check-in, I was casually asked if I would be partaking from the minibar or snack tray. When I looked surprised, the very pleasant woman at the Front Desk helpfully stated “our sensors are very sensitive to movement” and if I didn’t want to see non-refundable charges on my bill “I should just stay away from it entirely.” Properly warned, I cordoned off the area and didn’t get within 5 feet of the refrigerator.
I bring this up for context when thinking about Amazon’s new beta grocery store, amazongo, set to open sometime this spring in Seattle, which advertises itself thusly:
By now, you’ve no doubt heard that it uses the same types of technologies found in self-driving cars; computer vision, sensor vision and deep learning. Simply use the amazongo mobile app, enter the store, take the products you want and when you’re finished shopping, you can just, well… go.
If you’re like me, once you get past the initial thoughts; “how are they going to combat theft” and “man, there goes another entire segment of the workforce,” you’re left with, “my god, Jeff Bezos is going to own the entire world and why didn’t I buy Amazon Stock when it was under $500.”
Especially, after watching The Nerdwriter’s analysis of what he thinks Amazon’s long game really is – can you say License and Go:
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7yThere are companies popping up allover the place (SelfyCart, anyone?) who try to do something similar. But as far as end-to-end goes, AMZN is a force to be reckoned with, no doubt. Ultimately, this will come down to a generational shift, methinks. As far as theft goes, I am sure Mr. B is cooking up something, too. (To add: A former colleague of mine now works for AMZN in SEA and he shared his first GO experience a while ago. He was over the moon about it.)