By Steve Dennis | Forbes
It’s hard to underestimate the success and increasing power of Amazon. Their market cap hovers just under $1 trillion. Their growth rates have been astounding. By most estimates Amazon now accounts for nearly 50% of all US e-commerce revenues, roughly 5% of all retail and is significantly bigger than their next 10 competitors combined. One study has some 55% of all online product searches starting at Amazon.
This week a report that Amazon is considering opening up to 3,000 of their Amazon Go cashier less convenience stores by 2021 grabbed a lot of attention, despite their only having opened up a fourth location a few days ago. Advocates enthusiastically tout the concept’s potential ability to revolutionize shopping. Skeptics challenge the high capital cost, the reliability of the underlying technology and whether the stores really offer enough added value to take on well established players like 7-Eleven. I think both miss the larger point.
