Amazon Could build 3,000 Cashierless C-stores by 2021 What does that mean for you?

Legacy book stores scoffed at the idea that Amazon could ever change the face of book retail; well they did. Yes, legacy grocery stores why are you saying what book stores did then?  The grocery industry holds conference after conference some with new titles like ‘Grocerant Summit’ yet each conference has the same speakers or speakers from the same companies that they have had for forty years. How has that advice worked?  Well let’s just see.

Regular readers of this blog know that today there are 50% fewer legacy grocery stores than there were just 12 years ago.  However, if you were to pick up a grocery trade magazine you would think it was twelve years ago.  Even worse if you walk into most legacy grocery banners today they look more like yesterday than today or tomorrows food retail platform.  How can that be?  Simple, no Outside-Eyes.

Get this Bloomberg News reported Wednesday that Amazon is considering a plan to open as many as 3,000 of the cashierless Go convenience stores by 2021. Just think about that; 3,000 stores selling grocerant niche fresh food for less than a restaurant can, less than a grocery store, and better food faster than a C-store can according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Consumers are dynamic not static and many grocery retailers are not even static as they look more like yesterday.  Many legacy grocery stores have sat back and continued doing what they always have done, promoted new leaders from within, and reinforced running the business in the same way that they were trained 20, 30, and 40 years ago in some cases.  

  

Guess what?  Amazon did not do that.  They have had outside eyes focused on fresh food sales and a qualitative noticeable increase is speed of service for inside results.  The Bloomberg report stated that Amazon is considering different models as it looks to expand Amazon Go, including weighing whether to include a limited selection of groceries, or simply focus on prepared food pickup. Amazon’s smaller footprint makes shopping faster and consumers continue to be time starved according to Johnson.

Very few consumers want to spend 40 minutes walking around a Hy-Vee or Fred Meyer store looking for eight items once a week.  Today there are 29 restaurants for each legacy grocery store in the United States. The consumer has moved and its time that the grocery industry addresses just how they are going to evolve and if they in fact want to be in food retail 12 years from now.

Today Amazon Go’s largest store is 2,100 square feet -- carry a mix of prepared and packaged food, soft drinks and make-at-home meal kits. If we know anything it’s that format will continue to evolve as they try to sell more fresh food fast.  So, how long are you going to sit back and watch food retail evolve and the consumers migrated to other formants?

Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how www.FoodserviceSolutions.us can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization?  Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.