When the news broke that online retailer and all-around everything super-center Amazon was acquiring Whole Foods my instinct was to get straight to my blog. I have thoughts on this, of course, but I also knew there would be a slew of industry leaders leaning in on this deal. So I decided to wait a bit and gather the best articles in one place.
First, my thoughts.
Clearly Amazon wants to become more like Walmart as Walmart continues to try to be more like Amazon.
If I were to look in to the future of retail and how digital will ultimately impact it I think we'll see a new normal settled upon in the very near future. Within that normal there will be room for all kinds of players so long as they define a clear space that differentiates them from others. Pure online, pure mobile, pure physical retail, and everything in between will be the new reality. The largest players will be heavy in physical AND digital, while smaller players will excel at only one or the other.
So Walmart might one day be 70/30 physical to digital and Amazon might become 30/70 physical to digital. Something like that. You'll still see the mom & pop shop on Main Street, and the little niche mobile-only player that gets the job done too. Great time to be a customer huh?
The Food Marketing Institute back around 2012 was predicting roughly 10% of current Supermarket business would shift online. Most of that, 80%, would be taken from packaged center store goods that were easily shipped and often good targets for subscription models (such as diapers). Don't see any reason this prediction was off and that means big changes for Supermarkets across the country. They are suddenly too large for their needs. We should see stores removing aisles to make room for more fresh and prepared in-store options. Combined with a robust digital presence the best Supermarket chains will survive and thrive (Wegmans).
Now to it and there is a lot of reading for you should you choose to do so.
RIS weighs in with their slew of experts:
https://risnews.com/experts-weigh-amazon-snatches-organic-grocer-whole-foods-137-billion
Re/Code tell you how to keep Amazon from swallowing your business too:
https://www.recode.net/2017/6/19/15832958/amazon-whole-foods-jeff-bezos-acquisition-aws-vendor-tips-cloud-open-source
RetailDive tells us how the war between Amazon and Walmart is accelerating:
http://www.retaildive.com/news/amazon-vs-walmart-why-the-whole-foods-deal-escalates-the-war-for-the-amer/445294/
Bloomberg tells us Amazon is after every single thing you buy (which is exactly what Walmart is after by the way):
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-06-20/amazon-s-real-target-isn-t-whole-foods-it-s-everything-you-buy
Digital Transactions tells us why Amazon is changing the checkout (payment) process with this acquisition:
http://www.digitaltransactions.net/news/story/With-Its-Deal-for-Whole-Foods_-Amazon-Could-Usher-in-Seismic-Change-for-the-Checkout
Business Insider is always a good read and they say Walmart and Kroger (supermarket) should be terrified by this deal:
http://www.businessinsider.com/amazons-whole-foods-acquisition-should-terrify-walmart-kroger-2017-6
Finally the NRF (National Retail Federation) tells us the retail reinvention is just getting started but also cautions against the belief that traditional retail is imploding (correct):
https://nrf.com/news/retails-reinvention-story-is-just-getting-started
Happy Reading,
J.W. Gant
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