Will Amazon Get Into the Convenience Business?

April 3, 2015
NACS Online
Article cites Amazon patent application as possible evidence that online giant may be making brick-and-mortar plans.
​NEW YORK – Earlier this week, the website Re/code published an article theorizing what Amazon’s move into brick-and-mortar retailing might look like. Re/code author Jason Del Rey cited a recently filed patent application by Amazon that revealed details about a new kind of retail establishment that would allow shoppers to pick items and leave without stopping at a cashier station or kiosk.
“Based around the idea of complete convenience, such a store would work using a system of cameras, sensors or RFID readers that would be able to identify shoppers and the items they’ve chosen,” writes Del Rey.
Such extensive use of technology would allow Amazon to operate a more cost-efficient store, since the need for on-site employees would be minimal. The store could also serve to replace Amazon lockers that have been appearing more often in traditional convenience stores.
According to the article, the patent application, filed last year and released in January, is a continuation of a previously filed Amazon patent application, but now provides more details on how the system would work in a retail setting and demonstrates that Amazon is still, at a minimum, thinking about the topic. The author emphasized that patent applications don’t necessarily mean a company will follow through with the plans outlined in them.
For details on what Amazon’s future retail store might look like, read more at Re/code.
More than a year ago we began talking about Amazon’s foray into convenience. For our take on whether Amazon is a nuisance or threat, read “The Trojan Horse.”