Will Amazon Go Set the Trend For Our Shrinking High Streets?

Earlier this week Amazon announced Amazon Go, a futuristic shop making its debut in Seattle, Washington early next year. The store will feature new technology to allow customers to shop and pay for their purchases without scanning any items or even queueing at the checkout.

Customers will ‘tap in’ at the store entrance, using an app on their smartphone to register their visit. They will then be able to take anything they want off the shelves, which will all be detected by cameras and sensors. They can walk straight out of the shop when they’re done, and their shopping will be charged directly to their Amazon account. No scanning, no queueing, no hassle.

After watching Amazon’s video the first time I had a lot of questions – what if people don’t tap in when they come to the shop – will they be able to steal stuff? What if the person next to me picks something up off the shelf and Amazon thinks it was me and charges me for it? Amazon probably has some things to iron out at this early stage, and it will be a long time before we see anything like this on our side of the Atlantic, but on the face of it, it all sounds very easy and convenient.

Online vs. high street shopping

So does this go any way towards bridging the gap between the thriving internet and our long-suffering high streets? It’s no secret that online shopping is quicker because there are no queues and we don’t have to even get off the couch to place an order. It’s more convenient because we can have products delivered to us at a time that suits us, or we can click and collect in store, or pick up parcels at Amazon lockers or at our local newsagents or supermarkets. And there’s much more choice online – a whole world of choice, in fact – in terms of both what to buy and where to get it from. Oh, and things are often cheaper, too – and if they’re not cheap on the first website you look at, it’s easy to shop around and compare prices. That’s four reasons to shop online instead of in town. How can bricks-and-mortar retailers compete?

Store closures

There were 15 shop closures a day across the UK in the first half of 2016, and brands that were once part of the fabric of our towns and cities will be known to future generations only as relics of the past. Big names that have since gone into administration and vanished from our high street include JJB Sports, Borders, Blockbuster, Zavvi (formerly Virgin Megastore), Comet, MFI, Phones 4U, BHS, and of course the much-loved Woolworths. And new shops aren’t opening to replace the ones that have closed. It’s all a bit depressing.

New in-store technology

But is there still hope for the rest of our local brands? Maybe, with a little help from technology and the internet. In fact, Amazon isn’t the first retailer to bring new technology to stores. Take Tesco Scan as you Shop technology for example – they have already eliminated the need to unload trolleys and pack at the checkout. Tesco is also trialling digital receipts that can be emailed to customers through the Tesco app. Convenient, and paper saving. (As an aside, I recently went into New Look and was asked if I wanted my receipt emailed to me – my answer was no, because I couldn’t be bothered to spell out my email address when it would take a second for a receipt to be printed for me instead. But if there was an app involved and all I had to do was let the cashier scan a QR code on my phone, for example, that would be quick and easy and I’d probably say yes, because every month I empty my own weight in receipts out of my handbag. Anyway – the difference between Tesco and New Look in this instance? Convenience. That’s what customers want.)

Will customers embrace Amazon Go?

Cynics might suggest that Amazon Go is just another way technology and the internet is encroaching on our lives, but I think a lot of people would welcome it. Who wants to stand in a queue and hunt around for their wallet and the right change when you could just walk straight out of the shop with your items already packed and paid for? Anything that makes high street shopping faster and easier will help retailers to compete with the online world to a certain extent.

Will it catch on?

Time will tell if other retailers will jump on board with this technology, but if I were a retailer I would be paying close attention. After all, the benefits of Amazon Go aren’t limited to the customer. Think about when a customer taps into the store, walks around, but leaves without buying anything. Will Amazon contact them to find out why their bill was at zero and what could have been done to improve their experience? What about the products people pick up and put back on the shelf, or the products they look at every week but don’t buy – will Amazon be able to analyse trends in this behaviour and make adjustments to their offerings accordingly? What a wealth of information that could provide. New technology won’t come cheap, but it may pay off in the long run, and we may see some of the savvier brands implementing similar systems in the coming years.

On the other hand, is this technology obtrusive in terms of data collection? Well, it isn’t really any different to retailers gathering analytics about website visits, purchases, cart abandonment, and so on. Loyalty schemes such as Nectar also collect a lot of information about customers. And if you’re in the store you probably know how it works, and your presence surely means you consent to it.

Other in-store technology

There are other ways in which retailers can embrace the internet. We’ve already mentioned click and collect, with which customers may have paid online already or they may pay at the store, depending on the retailer and the customer’s preferences. And once they’re through the door, they might also spend their money on other things. Beacon technology is also an option – it provides customers with information and products quickly to enhance their shopping experience while in store, and can also encourage people to come in from outside.

Advantages of physical stores

Retailers should also remember that they do have some advantages over the internet – people don’t always want to wait (or pay) for items to be delivered, or it may be more convenient to pick them up from elsewhere. Sometimes they want to have the full shopping experience of touching an item, picking it up, trying it on, and so on. By thinking about the benefits of both shopping methods, online and offline channels can work together to provide customers with the best possible shopping experience. An omni-channel approach including web, social, mobile and physical retail can help businesses to target customers and give them what they want. All of these channels, as well as excellent service, offers, and convenience, can work together to give your customers incentives to shop with you and stay loyal.

Every time I see another shop closed down in my town – my home – I do wonder what is to become of the town I grew up in and love. But change is all part of growing up and growing old, which I’ve been told is mandatory. And people are still going into the town centre – it’s not like it’s a complete ghost town. So there is hope that offline retailers can use technology and the web to remain competitive. After dominating the high street for years, will the internet now in fact be able to help high street retailers get back on their feet?