August 24th 2017, Amazon officially bought Whole Foods. I first thought what are there alter-motives in this buy out. Why would Jeff Bezos want to buy a food company? At first, I thought it was a genius idea all around, but after further reading, I then realized the disruption it would have on the millions of jobs made for supermarket retail. After doing further research and watching this video, it not only will take jobs a way for cashiers but also for people who stock the aisles, security, eventually the idea of going to the grocery store will dissipate, because soon amazon will be delivering our groceries right to our front door. We can literally shop for our food on the amazon prime app and have it delivered within two days. Let us not forget what Amazon was originally designed for, book retail, and look where that market has gone. “Remember the company’s original disruption: bookselling. Jeff Bezos not only shifted how and where books were sold; he also changed how they were made, by forcing publishers, authors, and everybody else along the book supply chain to cut their costs.” Now we see toys R Us filing for bankruptcy, why? Because why go to a toys store that has limited supply of toys for children, when you can shop on Amazon and just type in the search bar on what you want and it be there. Walmart’s market has been reduced significantly as well, because what industry did Amazon get into as well? Furniture, clothing, kitchen supply, Etc. these are all examples of how Amazon has disruptive these markets through technology in a negative way. The very same thing can happen with the food industry, and by the looks of its virtual testing and videos of it, it certainly will. Is it a more efficient way to shop on all ends? Yes, but does it destroy the job markets it gets into? It has been and will continue.
August 24th 2017, Amazon officially bought Whole Foods. I first thought what are there alter-motives in this buy out. Why would Jeff Bezos want to buy a food company? At first, I thought it was a genius idea all around, but after further reading, I then realized the disruption it would have on the millions of jobs made for supermarket retail. After doing further research and watching this video, it not only will take jobs a way for cashiers but also for people who stock the aisles, security, eventually the idea of going to the grocery store will dissipate, because soon amazon will be delivering our groceries right to our front door. We can literally shop for our food on the amazon prime app and have it delivered within two days. Let us not forget what Amazon was originally designed for, book retail, and look where that market has gone. “Remember the company’s original disruption: bookselling. Jeff Bezos not only shifted how and where books were sold; he also changed how they were made, by forcing publishers, authors, and everybody else along the book supply chain to cut their costs.” Now we see toys R Us filing for bankruptcy, why? Because why go to a toys store that has limited supply of toys for children, when you can shop on Amazon and just type in the search bar on what you want and it be there. Walmart’s market has been reduced significantly as well, because what industry did Amazon get into as well? Furniture, clothing, kitchen supply, Etc. these are all examples of how Amazon has disruptive these markets through technology in a negative way. The very same thing can happen with the food industry, and by the looks of its virtual testing and videos of it, it certainly will. Is it a more efficient way to shop on all ends? Yes, but does it destroy the job markets it gets into? It has been and will continue.
Technology is running ramped today. It is blossoming everywhere from the phones that are in everyone’s hand to virtual world simulators. Technologies plumage could be a good thing and a bad thing. Technological advancements allow us to experience life in a more convenient way, but it could also lead us astray. Amazons’ making of grocery stores seems to be very cool because you could just go in and get whatever groceries that you need or want and then leave. The grocery stores that amazon is producing are susceptible to making many jobs disappear. These stores can also affect people ability to be sociable. Social interaction amongst people is important because it keeps people personable. If people become submerged in technology people will morph into anti-social individuals.
If amazon’s grocery store becomes successful, this may down the line make other stores pick up this idea as well. Being in an environment that is surrounded by technology is not good for the human experience because without that face to face human contact people will lose sight of what it is like to be conversational and acknowledge others. These stores could also be bad for the job market because many people would lose their job positions like cashiers, butchers, florists etc.
Amazon is good for many things like ordering books online and finding anything a person could possibly ask for, but it is almost like they are putting their hands on everything that they can for their own benefit. Amazon is also hurting businesses because toys “r” us cannot compete with amazon and neither can Walmart. If people allow technology to take over their lives people would become like robots. I agree with Eric Novembre on how amazon is hurting business and could potentially hurt the job market. Technology’s over powering presence over our generation is negative because life cannot be experienced the way it should be with it around in copious amounts. If things were to stay as they are it would be way more beneficial for future generations because they would not have to be lead into a robotic age. Amazon is a good company, but it is becoming very invasive.
A trip to the grocery store is an experience all in itself. From the front desk greeting you to the employees roaming around assisting you in finding a particular aisle, and if you go often enough you may get to know the cashier or the employee from the deli, on a personal level, creating an even more personable experience. No one could have predicted that one day we will have access to a grocery store with no employees! Amazon will be the first company to officially run a store through an app! Could this have a positive or negative effect on our society?
First, I believe that the act of cutting off employees will ruin the grocery store experience. Sure, easing the grocery shopping experience with an application on your phone is a great idea, but imagine getting lost at one of these stores or just missing that human interaction at the grocery store. For example, if an elderly lady comes into this Amazon store and is having trouble finding an item… who will she turn to? Unless Amazon plans on having a map of the store within the app this could be an inconvenience to not only elderly customers but all customers who need assistance with anything in this store. Although, I must admit the prices should be cheaper since they have less overhead costs when excluding employees’ salaries. It’s as simple as having fewer expenses allowing some price flexibility with their products, plus since Amazon is overtaking every other industry, their demand for supplies is going to skyrocket allowing them to lower their prices to ridiculous amounts. When taking this into consideration, this can be a huge positive to the consumer’s pockets, but a huge disadvantage to the workforce since many people will be out of jobs. Plus, I would not be surprised if Amazon began to buy other huge food chains. For example, if Amazon were to buy Shoprite, this would be a huge advantage to consumers since supplies will be virtually endless allowing the price to go extremely low, but since ShopRite is such a huge company there will be many individuals that will be unemployed after this acquisition. I have also noticed that there was a flaw in the entrance system.
I love the QR code system that practically signs you into the system and simulates shopping online but with physical products! Although I noticed a flaw in their entrance system, it appears that there isn’t any restrictions or a bodyguard making sure only people with accounts can enter the store. Maybe they should think about implementing a door with an access code through the QR code only, or at least put a metal block at the entrance to restrict outsiders from entering without an account, and potentially robbing their products. For instance, according to the video, it appears the entrance to this store is very open with no restrictions in those booths to scan your QR code at the entrance meaning if I were a typical robber I would try to hop through that to avoid the scanner and take whatever I want and walk right out. Especially, since the entrance scanners are so low and there is no security, I’m sure someone can hold the products high enough so that the scanners don’t know what has been stolen. Another weakness to this system that could occur in the foreseeable future is hackers. If someone got a hold of Amazon’s database, they would be able to buy as many items as the card on that file allows, or even create duplicate entrance QR Codes and sell these passes on the dark web. Amazon will really have to be careful because this can become a liability if the security for their database is not effective enough.
In conclusion, I believe that Amazon has a great idea with this grocery store they want to open to the public. It is both a more convenient and faster way of grocery shopping. Although, we can not ignore the negatives of this idea which are negatively impacting the workforce by having no more jobs, potential fraud which can occur, and robbery. Overall, I love convenience and quickness and since I am witty with my smartphone, I’m sure I will not have an issue trying to find something in an aisle.
A trip to the grocery store is an experience all in itself. From the front desk greeting you to the employees roaming around assisting you in finding a particular aisle, and if you go often enough you may get to know the cashier or the employee from the deli, on a personal level, creating an even more personable experience. No one could have predicted that one day we will have access to a grocery store with no employees! Amazon will be the first company to officially run a store through an app! Could this have a positive or negative effect on our society? First, I believe that the act of cutting off employees will ruin the grocery store experience. Sure, easing the grocery shopping experience with an application on your phone is a great idea, but imagine getting lost at one of these stores or just missing that human interaction at the grocery store. For example, if an elderly lady comes into this Amazon store and is having trouble finding an item… who will she turn to? Unless Amazon plans on having a map of the store within the app this could be an inconvenience to not only elderly customers but all customers who need assistance with anything in this store. Although, I must admit the prices should be cheaper since they have less overhead costs when excluding employees’ salaries. It’s as simple as having fewer expenses allowing some price flexibility with their products, plus since Amazon is overtaking every other industry, their demand for supplies is going to skyrocket allowing them to lower their prices to ridiculous amounts. When taking this into consideration, this can be a huge positive to the consumer’s pockets, but a huge disadvantage to the workforce since many people will be out of jobs. Plus, I would not be surprised if Amazon began to buy other huge food chains. For example, if Amazon were to buy Shoprite, this would be a huge advantage to consumers since supplies will be virtually endless allowing the price to go extremely low, but since ShopRite is such a huge company there will be many individuals that will be unemployed after this acquisition. I have also noticed that there was a flaw in the entrance system. I love the QR code system that practically signs you into the system and simulates shopping online but with physical products! Although I noticed a flaw in their entrance system, it appears that there isn’t any restrictions or a bodyguard making sure only people with accounts can enter the store. Maybe they should think about implementing a door with an access code through the QR code only, or at least put a metal block at the entrance to restrict outsiders from entering without an account, and potentially robbing their products. For instance, according to the video, it appears the entrance to this store is very open with no restrictions in those booths to scan your QR code at the entrance meaning if I were a typical robber I would try to hop through that to avoid the scanner and take whatever I want and walk right out. Especially, since the entrance scanners are so low and there is no security, I’m sure someone can hold the products high enough so that the scanners don’t know what has been stolen. Another weakness to this system that could occur in the foreseeable future is hackers. If someone got ahold of Amazon’s database, they would be able to buy as many items as the card on that file allows, or even create duplicate entrance QR Codes and sell these passes on the dark web. Amazon will really have to be careful because this can become a liability if the security for their database is not effective enough. In conclusion, I believe that Amazon has a great idea with this grocery store they want to open to the public. It is both a more convenient and faster way of grocery shopping. Although, we can not ignore the negatives of this idea which are negatively impacting the workforce by having no more jobs, potential fraud which can occur, and robbery. Overall, I love convenience and quickness and since I am witty with my smartphone, I’m sure I will not have an issue trying to find something in an aisle.