The much-anticipated convenience-store concept developed by online retailer Amazon, Amazon Go, is likely to evolve into a software concept that can be adopted by mainstream retailers, a leading Kantar Retail analyst has told ESM.
Amazon Go is "a very good way to enter partnerships with other retailers," explains Ray Gaul, VP of research & analytics and market insights at Kantar Retail. "For example, take 7-Eleven, which has 20,000 locations across Japan. It would take ages for Amazon to get the same sort of presence."
Instead, Gaul argues that Amazon could work in conjunction with retailers as an added-value service. "It's a fantastic bargaining chip for Amazon to get even deeper into the supply chain, and even deeper into the ways consumers want to shop," he said.
Gaul spoke to ESM at the PLMA Roundtable Conference, which took place in Warsaw on 22 and 23 February.
In terms of the future evolution of grocery e-commerce, Gaul believes that the presence of Amazon in the marketplace will force many to "change their approach. I think you will see a lot of really cool things coming out from some of the big retailers in the next five years."
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
