Amazon Go Not Sustainable Yet

 

At the intersection of fresh food retail and the consumer is a fledgling concept by Amazon called Amazon Go. After spending billions on Whole Food and stumbling, they rolled out Amazon Fresh a grocery store with technology and fresh food but it has failed to meet or exceed consumers expectations as well. So, they went back to the Urban Amazon Go concept and are trying to find a universal template they can leverage for dramatic success.  Will they be able to disrupt this space with success.  Well not yet, not today.

In the minds-eye of Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® when it comes to fresh food retail Amazon has:

1.       Outstanding Grocerant Niche Fresh Prepared Food, Heat-N-Meals, and Meal Kits

2.       Great Data on Pricing Elasticity

3.       Great Data on Buying Patterns by Time

4.       Great Focus on Sustainable Packaging

5.       Great Technology

6.       Great Financial Backing

7.       Endless Ability to Experiment

8.       No Ability to understand the relationship between consumers intellectual quotient and consumers emotional quotient.

It is easy to see how ‘technology forwarded’ consumers like all of the technology embedded in each of Amazon’s fresh food retail concepts.  After the billions spent on fresh food sector concepts, new concepts, and revitalizing concepts they have not yet found the sweat spot of success in that space.    

The disconnect is clearly in the space between the consumers intellectual quotient (IQ) and consumers emotional quotient (EQ). Amazon has all of the parts they are simply missing the ribbon that ties them all together according to Johnson.

Amazon has proven itself as the preeminent omnichannel retailer in the world. In the fresh food space concept after concept the price, value, service equilibrium is being disrupted by the lack of understanding of consumers emotional relationship with fresh food. Simply put they don’t get the EQ of the consumer with respect to buying fresh food.

There is a blance between shopping in the store and online where the brand must tie both the EQ and IQ to the same place in the minds-eye of the consumer. Omnichannel consumers are more likely to be Millennials and have to be Amazons primary target customers. 

Unfortunately for Amazon they must believe that by introducing new technology to solve legacy fresh food retail pain points that is all the ‘discovery’ Millennials need.  They are wrong.  Millennials expect the technology to save time, and a seamless shopping experience, however they still want fresh food discovery according to Johnson.

The fact is whether a customer shops Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh, or Amazon Go they will find fresh full flavored grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat or Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food.  Simply put 99 out of 100 visits the food is very good. They have little problem with fresh food quality.  However that is not enough to sustain a fresh food customer over time.  

Amazon has all of the parts from sustainable packaging, menu diversity, and brand messaging what is missing is an over lapping relationship with consumers food space emotional quotient. Don’t let you consumers emotion dangle on the edge.  Invite them in!

Don’t over reach. Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions® 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 us on our social media sites by clicking the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter

In a Battle for Share of Stomach

Don't Forget the

Consumers Emotional Quotient