In the 2010s, American retailers made the monstrous mistake of prioritizing their online sites over their existing brick-and-mortars. Amazon.com’s growth beguiled us all into assuming that online shopping would replace traditional shopping. We ignored sales data and consumer behavior, which clearly showed that two decades after inception, and even in the middle of a global pandemic, E-commerce only represents 14% of all retail sales. Consumers prefer in-person shopping for new or significant items, and the experience is far more gratifying than the quick and often repeated online clicks for routine items. Much more than a mere commercial transaction, shopping is an interactive, social event that appeals to all our senses. Although brick-and-mortar dominates retail, with advances in technology, shoppers now expect a much more digitally connected experience. Existing dull and disconnected large footprint shopping malls and stores are no longer acceptable or sustainable. We are witnessing a huge change in the way consumers shop, and Amazon has anticipated this for years. 

The Battle for Groceries 

Food is a necessity that drives consumers into stores multiple times a week, making the grocery industry one of the most desired areas of retail. Walmart and Target have long been battling to find a foothold in this industry. Amazon decided to join the fight when they implemented their AmazonFresh services. By 2017, AmazonFresh was ready and built its first Pick-Up location. You could order your groceries, drive to the building, and your order was brought to your car. This was just the beginning...

Amazon Buys Whole Foods for $13.7 BILLION 

This purchase alone should have set off sirens at every retail center in America, warning us of our misdirected E-commerce efforts. Today, Whole Foods is growing, and new locations are being opened. Amazon has an online grocery distributor which is also growing, and neither seems to be diminishing the other. As Whole Foods continues to grow, so does Amazon’s foothold in retail.

Giving it a Fresh Go 

The first Amazon Go convenience store opened in 2018. The Go convenience stores and larger Go Grocery stores serve as testing grounds for new retail experiences. “Just Walk Out” technology allows the store to detect what items the customer is carrying out and charge customer accounts automatically. With several other retail operations on the rise, Amazon has been building up to their ideal grocery space, Amazon Fresh. These newly launched Amazon Fresh stores have Dash Carts, which work like the Go stores in cart form. Place what you want in the cart, walk through a special check-out lane, and you are done. Amazon One is the latest tech update that scans your palm to identify and pay. While this will be received with mixed opinions, at this point, we should all be aware that Amazon is nothing if not strategic!

Amazon has pushed the entire industry to get ready for this new world where the lines of separation between on and offline are getting blurry. Finally, some retailers are catching on and taking steps in the right direction to update their own brick-and-mortars. Shopping is evolving and the online, mobile, and in-store channels are all combining into the new world of "digital shopping." Retailers, like Target, are also leading the charge and paving the path for this new omni-digital experience.