Amazon yesterday announced a new version of its checkout-free Amazon Go format - a 450 square foot unit that is about one-quarter the size of the other Amazon Go stores that it has opened. (Picture below.)
The first of the new, smaller breed has been opened on the 6th floor of the Macy’s building in Seattle, at 300 Pine Street, which now is being leased by Amazon for office space. It is only open to Amazon employees and their guests.
Gianna Puerini, vice president of Amazon Go, tells Reuters that “the tiny format could serve office lobbies, communal floors inside tall buildings and perhaps a hospital.”
“We wanted something from a design perspective that would fit nicely into open spaces,” she says. “You can bring it in pieces and assemble it on site.”
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Amazon founder-CEO Jeff Bezos has famously said that he wants Amazon Prime to be such a distinctive and attractive service that it would be irresponsible for people not to be members. As it rolls out various versions of Amazon Go - this likely is just one of many on the drawing board, which can be placed in a wide variety of locations and venues - keep in mind that they require Amazon Prime memberships to get shop there.
This is not an initiative taking place in a vacuum. It is all part of an integrated and strategic whole, part of a puzzle that is being put together with nuanced foresight, and insight. That’s what you’re competing with if you happen to be in a customer-centric business not named Amazon.
