Shoshy Ciment/Business Insider
- Amazon opened its first Amazon Go store in January 2018. The cashierless store of the future is changing the game for prepared food and convenience stores.
- Though there are currently only 13 Amazon Go locations in the US, the e-commerce giant reportedly has plans to open 3,000 more stores within a few years, which could threaten other convenience store chains like 7-Eleven.
- We visited a 7-Eleven and an Amazon Go store to see how Amazon leverages assets in its convenience stores and saw why other retailers in this sector should be wary of the fresh competition.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Amazon has its hands in nearly every retail sector, from grocery to beauty.
When the e-commerce giant announced its decision to open a new chain of prepared food and convenience stores in 2016, it was hardly a surprise.
Amazon Go is Amazon’s convenience store of the future. It’s another example of the company’s push into brick-and-mortar retail, and it’s infused with technology.
Read more: We shopped at Wawa and 7-Eleven to see which convenience store was better. The winner was clear.
Amazon Go is threatening other convenience stores with its ability to leverage consumer data from its online database to better cater to the wants of its customers. There are only 13 Amazon Go locations in the US currently, but the company reportedly has plans to open 3,000 stores by 2021.
A footprint of that size could threaten other convenience-store chains in the US.
With at least 60,000 stores across the globe, 7-Eleven is likely one of Amazon Go’s worthiest competitors. We visited a 7-Eleven and an Amazon Go store to see which offered a better convenience-store experience.
Amazon Go’s cashierless and technology-infused store was easy to navigate and therefore vastly superior to 7-Eleven. See what it was like to visit both:
First, we stopped by a 7-Eleven in Manhattan’s Financial District, a prime location for city and office dwellers to pick up convenience store essentials.
Shoshy Ciment/Business Insider
As expected for a store located in the middle of the city, the interior was small and narrow.
Shoshy Ciment/Business Insider
The front of the store had baskets for shoppers to store their items while they shopped.
Shoshy Ciment/Business Insider
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
See Also:
- I tried the ‘best doughnut chain in America’ and found simplicity is what makes it stand out
- Amazon is reportedly eyeing the former Lord & Taylor flagship store as it looks for office space in New York City. Here’s what the iconic store looked like before it closed its doors.
- We went grocery shopping at Walmart and Whole Foods and saw how Amazon’s $13.7 billion bet is failing to beat the superstore in price and selection
Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Shoshy Ciment)