New Amazon Grocery Chain

[arizonaguy]

More news outlets are reporting on an Amazon grocery store chain that will have fresh departments accessible to consumers and basically center store in a large "backroom" where customers will make center store selections on an app and then these items will be brought to consumers at checkout (similar in a way to a Service Merchandise). Apparently this will also make pickup and delivery easier (as one of the focuses of this chain will be pickup and delivery).

I'm not sure I love this ideas as I find it easier once I'm in a store to simply pick an item up off the shelf versus have to go onto an app to find the item and then have someone bring it to me. I do see how they can stock more items more efficiently in smaller square footage with this idea though.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/28/tech ... ocery.html

[rwsandiego]

More news outlets are reporting on an Amazon grocery store chain that will have fresh departments accessible to consumers and basically center store in a large "backroom" where customers will make center store selections on an app and then these items will be brought to consumers at checkout (similar in a way to a Service Merchandise). Apparently this will also make pickup and delivery easier (as one of the focuses of this chain will be pickup and delivery).

I'm not sure I love this ideas as I find it easier once I'm in a store to simply pick an item up off the shelf versus have to go onto an app to find the item and then have someone bring it to me. I do see how they can stock more items more efficiently in smaller square footage with this idea though.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/28/tech ... ocery.html

I'm with you on this. Interesting concept, but having to buy center store using an app is too inconvenient.

[pseudo3d]

Kmart/Sears tried this about a decade ago, didn't really work. I'm not sure if grocery is really the best move for this anyway, as grocery stores rely a lot on impulse purchases. Furthermore, blocking the center store from customers denies the ability to touch and feel the product (seeing how big/small it really is, or checking for the cans without the dents). Even Service Merchandise and its contemporaries had a display model to show what you were actually getting.

[storewanderer]

So I am going to stand around and scroll through an app and select my items then stand there and wait while someone picks them for me?

This works if you buy the same exact items every single week... easy... repeat order and go... but how many grocery baskets are 100% identical every single week?

Try again.

[Alpha8472]

Service Merchandise and Best had stores like this, but those chains died out. Stores make most of their money from impulse buys. People want to browse the merchandise and see it in person. Much of the time, something new will catch your eye and you will be tempted to buy it. The joy of going to a store is to discover new things, and these new Amazon stores just seem to sap the life out of you.

[pseudo3d]

Construction has begun (to open February from last reports, but I have a feeling that's optimistic) on a store on 6245 Topanga Canyon Blvd. in Woodland Hills, California (a former Toys R Us). The store is only about 33k square feet, which is pretty small for a supermarket (but big enough to fit a smaller Albertsons/Kroger/etc.) and from the looks of it, doesn't look like it's gonna light anything on fire--the area already has THREE Ralphs within a 1.5 mile radius (plus Trader Joe's and Costco) and gives the impression of an ambitious small-format store that feels like it needs to reinvent the wheel to make it in the grocery world (and the list is long where that comes from). Amazon has the resources to make a good supermarket--a grocery store in the 50k+ square feet range with good perishable departments, quality produce, without BS gimmicks like shopping cards and games, low prices, and an attractive and clean store to wrap it all together with. Is it that hard?

[klkla]

Construction has begun (to open February from last reports, but I have a feeling that's optimistic) on a store on 6245 Topanga Canyon Blvd. in Woodland Hills, California (a former Toys R Us).

A couple months ago I linked to a newspaper article in one of the other threads that had a photo of the store. It was pretty close to being finished then so February seems realistic.

It will be interesting to see what they are up to. This company always thinks out of the box so I wouldn't expect it to be a typical supermarket as we know it. There are already a lot of those. There must be something else that they are bringing to the table with this store that we don't know about.

[Bagels]

Construction has begun (to open February from last reports, but I have a feeling that's optimistic) on a store on 6245 Topanga Canyon Blvd. in Woodland Hills, California (a former Toys R Us). The store is only about 33k square feet, which is pretty small for a supermarket (but big enough to fit a smaller Albertsons/Kroger/etc.) and from the looks of it, doesn't look like it's gonna light anything on fire--the area already has THREE Ralphs within a 1.5 mile radius (plus Trader Joe's and Costco) and gives the impression of an ambitious small-format store that feels like it needs to reinvent the wheel to make it in the grocery world (and the list is long where that comes from). Amazon has the resources to make a good supermarket--a grocery store in the 50k+ square feet range with good perishable departments, quality produce, without BS gimmicks like shopping cards and games, low prices, and an attractive and clean store to wrap it all together with. Is it that hard?

The era of supersized supermarkets is slowly coming to an end. A typical large supermarket -- whether it's Kroger, Albertsons, Food Lion, etc. -- is stocked with oodles of items that move poorly (e.g. dish towels, toilet brushes, motor oil, seasonal gifts, etc.). While these are high margin items, in an era of swelling rents coupled coupled with declining sales of these items, it just doesn't make sense to stock them them.

Also, it's probable that Amazon won't stock as many items as the competition (in recent years, Walmart and Kroger have both tried to aggressively cut the number of SKUs they carry, but have been met with backlash). For example, expect to find only the most popular Coke and Pepsi products on the shelves -- if you want Vernors or RC Cola, you'd have to schedule these items for pick-up or delivery (unless Amazon expanded into trade areas where these items are popular, of course). It's also expected that Amazon won't carry items that don't cater to middle class tastes, as well as those that have poor margins; instead, Amazon will compete on price. So don't expect to find those crappy sub-$1 Banquet meals, or 69c 2-liters of Jeff's Choice Soda.

Ultimately, Amazon does have the resources -- both financial and a data mine -- to successfully modernize the supermarket industry, and make traditional grocers relevant again. Whether that happens, or the trial goes the way of Fire Phone, will be interesting to watch. The industry desperately needs innovation, and to break the chains of the traditional vendor model.

[Alpha8472]

There is an Amazon book store in my city. It is small compared to a Barnes & Noble. The store only carries a selection of the most popular items based on what is bought and sold on Amazon.com. Anything else must be ordered online.

I suspect Amazon will do the same thing and only stock what are the best selling items. The Amazon bookstore used to have a Peet's Coffee cafe inside, but they recently remodeled and got rid of it. So Amazon does not like cafes. I would suspect that Amazon grocery stores would not have service departments. There would be no meat counter, service deli, or bakery. Everything will be prepackaged and ready to go so that customers can self checkout and go.

Overall the Amazon bookstore sells the top items, but it lacks everything else. There is not much to explore. It is as if you are forced to only read books on the top seller's list. You cannot discover obscure treasures or something useful. Amazon dictates what you can buy and if you want anything else, tough luck.

[pseudo3d]

Construction has begun (to open February from last reports, but I have a feeling that's optimistic) on a store on 6245 Topanga Canyon Blvd. in Woodland Hills, California (a former Toys R Us). The store is only about 33k square feet, which is pretty small for a supermarket (but big enough to fit a smaller Albertsons/Kroger/etc.) and from the looks of it, doesn't look like it's gonna light anything on fire--the area already has THREE Ralphs within a 1.5 mile radius (plus Trader Joe's and Costco) and gives the impression of an ambitious small-format store that feels like it needs to reinvent the wheel to make it in the grocery world (and the list is long where that comes from). Amazon has the resources to make a good supermarket--a grocery store in the 50k+ square feet range with good perishable departments, quality produce, without BS gimmicks like shopping cards and games, low prices, and an attractive and clean store to wrap it all together with. Is it that hard?

The era of supersized supermarkets is slowly coming to an end. A typical large supermarket -- whether it's Kroger, Albertsons, Food Lion, etc. -- is stocked with oodles of items that move poorly (e.g. dish towels, toilet brushes, motor oil, seasonal gifts, etc.). While these are high margin items, in an era of swelling rents coupled coupled with declining sales of these items, it just doesn't make sense to stock them them.

Also, it's probable that Amazon won't stock as many items as the competition (in recent years, Walmart and Kroger have both tried to aggressively cut the number of SKUs they carry, but have been met with backlash). For example, expect to find only the most popular Coke and Pepsi products on the shelves -- if you want Vernors or RC Cola, you'd have to schedule these items for pick-up or delivery (unless Amazon expanded into trade areas where these items are popular, of course). It's also expected that Amazon won't carry items that don't cater to middle class tastes, as well as those that have poor margins; instead, Amazon will compete on price. So don't expect to find those crappy sub-$1 Banquet meals, or 69c 2-liters of Jeff's Choice Soda.

Ultimately, Amazon does have the resources -- both financial and a data mine -- to successfully modernize the supermarket industry, and make traditional grocers relevant again. Whether that happens, or the trial goes the way of Fire Phone, will be interesting to watch. The industry desperately needs innovation, and to break the chains of the traditional vendor model.

I disagree that the "era of large supermarkets is coming to an end". Sure, there aren't as many traditional supermarket chains anymore and square footage is no longer increasing, but when chains like H-E-B are still pushing out 70k+ square foot stores even in dense, urban footprints (and other independents like Hy-Vee and Giant Eagle continue to work with large stores) while smaller prototypes (both from small store chains and large chain prototypes) from a variety of contenders are hit and miss, the death of such stores is highly exaggerated.