We think the Zoox acquisition will integrate very deeply into Amazon’s ecosystem to the point where it will be a Prime+ benefit, providing not ride hailing but self contained transportation for Prime members to a number of Amazon ‘properties’ including the grocery marketplace (Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods, et alia), Amazon Retail experience (JCPenny, Sears, Kohl’s, et alia, Macy*s ?), Amazon Healthcare Centers (amazon.care), and Amazon entertainment (Amazon/AMC theatres), just for starters.
Category: Amazon
This will rattle Brazil’s eCommerce market, ranked in the top 5, or 10 worldwide, depending on who is counting and how they measure. The CEP Group uses its 40+ years of eCommerce experience, both nationally and cross-border, XBeC, combined with Amazon’s focus. Note: this does not mean that Amazon is currently successful in a market, e.g., China, only that they recognize it is a priority.
August 30, 2019
The recent news item on the US Navy’s award to Amazon Web Services (AWS) for its supply chain to meet the Navy’s requirements to unify the movement and documentation of some $70 billion worth of parts and goods into one accessible space, where the information can be shared, analyzed and protected in a more uniform fashion is significant. The Navy’s acquisition, logistics, and back office data will be moved to the cloud over the next two years.
While the contract is for IT cloud services, it is also significant in that it focuses on Supply Chain for parts and goods for Navy flight operations. So a good question is, will this lead to a ‘two for one’ win for Amazon; i.e., will Amazon’s ever growing logistics operations have an in on the transportation and delivery piece of the parts and goods business, offering full integration for both the shipments, and the information about the shipments? Amazon’s HQ2 will be the Pentagon’s next door neighbor starting in 2020 (one Metro stop away), and closer to the Pentagon than Boeing’s Crystal City campus.
And who else might be in the wings for the logistics piece of the business? In the late 1970’s the US Postal Service won a multi-million dollar, multi-year contract with the USAF to handle the exact same type of shipments for restock and repair parts and supplies for aircraft. Shipments, outbound and inbound were carried via the eponymous US Postal Service “Express Mail Customized Designed Service”, every routing leg was individually designed and programed by time of day for PUDO on a 24/7/365 day schedule for the Air Force, with full en-route tracking.
Today USPS ® Priority Mail Express ® service is a shadow of its former glory. However, another contender may very well be FedEx® Aerospace Solutions, possibly one of the reasons FedEx Express® cancelled its Amazon contract.
The latest news on Amazon’s retail projects concerns it’s deepening relationship with Kohl’s, via an enhanced customer experience (CX) for returns. Returns Management is one of the critical factors in consumer choice of merchant as noted in current research.
“Have an Amazon return to send back? Kohl’s stores are now accepting Amazon returns” The story is reported at – https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/07/08/kohls-stores-now-accepting-amazon-returns-no-box-required/1629966001/
Coming soon – the CEP Group is currently working on “eCommerce Retail Footprint Study – The Rise of Alliances”, covering Amazon, DHL, FedEx, US Postal Service and UPS, scheduled tentatively for late Summer 2019
We expect it’s going to get a little busier here in Crystal City as Amazon sets up its new headquarters up the block. The following news story from the Arlington County government covers a wide range of development activities, project details, and an overall sense of the magnitude and impact on Northern Virginia. And unless you have been in, or visited Seattle over the years, going back to the mid-1990’s when Amazon opened its doors there, you can’t really appreciate first hand what’s coming, both from a physical environmental perspective, and how Amazon’s business presence will likely shape a large part of America’s future. Two key areas we see that will dominate the world, geopolitically and commercially are Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Amazon logistics, both national (“AMZL”) and worldwide (“AGL”).
For those interested in an individual discussion on the Amazon HQ2 impacts, both in the Washington DC and NYC loci, please contact us.