Amazon Go Urban Grocery Store The Grocerant Guru® Just-Walked-Out

Success does leave clues and there is one company in the United States that is not afraid to innovate, learn, and evolve.  That company is Amazon, just about everyone has bought more than a book from Amazon and urban foodies have special relationship with Amazon Go convenience stores. The simple fact is consumers are use to going to an ATM anytime they need cash.  No one wants to go back to the days they need to walk into a bank to get cash.  That same with all three Amazon Go Stores templates, convenience stores, urban grocery, ans suburban grocery its fresh food fast and complexity free. 

Consumers don't go backwards.  Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® was one of the first to visit and review the very first Amazon Go C-store.  Once again, Johnson, was one of the first to visit the Amazon Go Grocery store.  So, just what did our Grocerant Guru® think?  Well he came back to the office and exclaimed, I now want to move to Seattle.  I guess he like it. Here is why:

Just like Amazon Go C-store the first Urban Grocery store checkout process is seamless experience just like Amazon Go C-store filled with grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food. It’s true you just simply walk out.  The first Amazon Go Urban Grocery store elevates the urban local grocery shopping experience with local products, including Whole Foods ‘365’ private label, and Amazon Go private label products.

One thing that they do exceptionally well is grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food.  They offer a variety of ethnic flavored meals and meal components to complement consumers insatiable drive for food discovery.  

Amazon Go Grocery is a small-format URBAN store but a bit to large according to Johnson, albeit offering plenty of fresh meat and produce, options, Heat-N-Eat meals, meal kits, and traditional groceries add on the ilk of dish soap, toothpaste, deodorant, pet food.  

While, Dilip Kumar, Amazon’s vice president of physical retail and technology, stated “Because the customer has different needs... and different things that they look for at different stores, what is it we can we do here in this type of format in this neighborhood to add value? That to me is the selection we carry, the pricing we have — plus the convenience of just being able to walk out.” Kumar knows that rolling out three Amazon Go formats will be a platform for customer adoption and metroplex profitability. 

However, Johnson observation’s after making a return visit only a day after the grand opening, became all to  clear to see why.  Pricing was more than competitive.  The price points were less than any other grocery stores within 2 miles.  Fresh food, fast, and for less, works!  Smaller footprint - less cost, no cashiers - less cost. 

Battle for Share of Stomach

The ability of consumers to find grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared meals and meal components that can be mixed and matched with good selection of beer, wine and spirits and do it in a complexity fee setting again simply complements all offering according to Johnson.  

What did Johnson like best well that’s simple since he is penultimate morning person in our office fresh brewed Tony’s Coffee, fresh La Parisienne options, Donut Factory donuts, and Seattle Bagel Bakery offerings. A quick cup of coffee and a bit to eat on the way to work will drive incremental daypart sales for the grocery store. In today's food retail these my friends are the basics.  How are you evolving? Packaging for 10 or packaging for 1? 62.8% of US Households had one or two people in 2019 packaging for 1 or 2 trumps selling food for 10.  

Dilip Kumar said Amazon Go grocery stores will be offering free bags with Amazon Go Grocery’s green branding. Johnson, brought two back from his last visit and one is hanging above his desk to inspire the rest of us to make the trip north to find out about the joy of complexity free grocery shopping.

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a Grocerant Program Assessment, Grocerant ScoreCard, or for product positioning or placement assistance, or call our Grocerant Guru®.  Since 1991 www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869