Strike a pose! Amazon is planning the launch of its own fashion range, if the latest grapevine rumblings are to be believed. This latest development in the what next speculation that follows Amazon around, coincides with news that the etailer is now offering restaurant/take-away deliveries in seven cities across the US – Austin, Baltimore, Los Angeles, Portland (Oregon, not Maine) and Seattle have been joined by San Diego.
Surely it won’t be long until an internet of things powered belt will know what food you’ve had delivered from Amazon and automatically orders you a pair of trousers in the next size up.
In the UK there are already a number of operators – like Deliveroo, for example – offering these kinds of 21st Century meals-on-wheels services, whether Amazon will join the fray is yet to be seen. But it makes an interesting addition to the list of delivery-based services Amazon is developing.
As we’ve covered here in the past, if all the speculation is to be believed, Amazon is preparing itself to become a sea carrier, an air freight operator, an everyday carrier with fleets of trucks and vans, a food delivery company, and now a fashion label.
Maybe. Or maybe this is a really great example of a business doing two things that every business in 2016 should be doing – or considering, at least.
It is making a series of small bets (relative to its overall size that is) rather than staking the future on a small number of big gambles. It is also in a constant state of disruption … what can it do differently, how can it challenge not only the market but itself.
This week sees the publication of the first of my interviews with speakers you can hear at eDelivery Expo (EDX16) in April. In my interview with Professor Jan Godsell, the idea of future-proofing via making small bets and keeping your options open is discussed as one of the ways the retail sector needs to respond to the major challenges it faces today. In that way, any retail business could find itself mimicking Amazon, to an extent, and identifying ways to spread risk and avoid becoming a target for disruption at the same time.
Professor Godsell also talked about her time looking after logistics at Dyson, the changing nature of consumer outlooks, and the likelihood of a move toward a more responsible form of consumerism.
You can also find a run-down of what to expect at EDX16 here, as well as some reflections on one of the key themes of EDX16, namely the importance of making fulfillment a competitive advantage.
If you haven’t registered yet, please do. We’re looking forward to an excellent event, following last year’s first ever EDX, and I’m hoping to meet as many eDelivery readers as I possibly can. So do come and say hello to me and the rest of the team.
Elsewhere on eDelivery, we have news of a second wave of Viking invaders, and a guest-authored article from Gary Keatings, VP of Solutions Design at DHL who looks at the need to get better insights from data. If you have an opinion to share, maybe about some of the issues and articles you’ve read on eDelivery, you can email me direct via this link.
And from our magazine archive, we have an interview with Geoff Taylor of Route Genie and his belief that there hasn’t always been a level playing field for retailers when it comes to working with carriers.
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