A pioneer in e-commerce, starting to sell products online in the 90s, Amazon moved against traditional retailers by opening its first physical store in 2015, when it opened a bookstore in the city of Seattle. Since then, the company has opened several other physical establishments such as 4-Star (a chain of stores that sold highly rated items in e-commerce), Pop-Up (kiosks created to allow customers to try on equipment before purchasing online) and Amazon Fresh (supermarket chain with intelligent payment system), in addition to have acquired Whole Foods (natural and organic supermarket chain).
Not all of these Amazon gambles paid off, which explains the announcement made in March of that year about the closure of nearly 70 physical stores. However, anyone who thought that the company would follow a movement back exclusively to e-commerce was wrong. Following its culture of innovation and avant-garde, the company inaugurated the first Amazon Style unit at the end of May.
Located in the city of Glendale (California), on the outskirts of Los Angeles, Amazon Style is the company's first physical store to sell clothes, shoes and accessories for men and women. Although it seems common, the system used in the store is what makes it different from what we are used to: using the Amazon Shopping application, customers scan the QR Code of items scattered around the store to see options for size, colors, comments from other customers and additional product information. From there, he can send it directly to the pick-up counter for payment or request it in a fitting room so he can try on the garment. Each fitting room has a touch-sensitive screen that allows the customer to browse more options, evaluate items and order more sizes or styles, which are delivered directly to the fitting room a few minutes later, without having to leave there.
Video: How Amazon Style Works
Source: Amazon.
Amazon Style is built around personalization. Based on machine learning methods, the system makes personalized recommendations in real time for each customer while they scan items that catch their attention in the store or based on preference style information that the person shares, for example. In addition to the suggestions for parts, in the Amazon Shopping app, customers can also see the offers and promotions that are most in line with their shopping habits.
In addition to being personalized, it is also an omnichannel experience. By scanning the items in the store, they are available in the customer's account so that he can buy them online in the future. On the other hand, the customer can also buy pieces over the internet and request delivery at Amazon Style, where he can try the item and, if he is not satisfied, return the product to the store itself.
This new concept of the company's store is just one of the initiatives based on the Customer Centric culture, clearly explained in what is known as one of the laws of Bezos (founder of the company): customer obsession. According to Gartner, Customer Centric can be defined as the ability of people in an organization to understand the situations, perceptions and expectations of customers. This culture requires the customer to be the focal point of all decisions related to the delivery of products, services and experiences to create customer satisfaction, loyalty and advocacy.
Amazon is globally recognized for this culture that has gained strength in recent years in the market. However, moving from theory to practice is not simple, because in addition to demanding a change from the old culture, it requires considerable investments, mainly in technology, so that the company can actually extract information and insights from the large amount of information generated from of customer activities both online and in the physical world.
Because it is a subject that is at the top of the agenda of the main supply chain managers in the country and in the world, “Customer Centric and the challenges of the new e-commerce” will even be one of the tracks of the 28th International Supply Chain Forum, which will take place between the 18th and 20th of October in a hybrid form (in São Paulo and Online).
References:
– Infomoney – Amazon will close nearly 70 brick-and-mortar stores but retain others. See what the retailer's bets are
– Technoblog – Amazon Opens Its Biggest Cashless Supermarket
– How to Geek – Amazon will close all pop kiosks
– About Amazon – Amazon reimagines in-store shopping with Amazon Style
– Gartner – Customer-centricity demands that the customer satisfaction, loyalty and advocacy
– To Digital – Customer Centric – Amazon, Starbucks and Zappos are obsessed with you
Fernanda Monteiro
More than 11 years of experience in training and consultancy projects, focusing on Logistics and Supply Chain. In consultancy, he carried out projects such as Transformational Logistics Plan, Diagnosis of logistics operations, Strategy and Calendarization of Transport Operations, Measuring the Cost of Serving, Market Study, Mapping of Inventory Reduction Opportunities, Review of the S&OP Process, Management Plan Training and Implementation of Commercial Processes in companies such as Nestlé, Raia Drogasil, Ipiranga, Lojas Americanas, B2W, Coca-Cola, Andina, Embraco, Martins Atacado, Loja do Mecânico, Santo Antônio Energia, Ecoporto and Silimed. She is currently one of the teachers of the Inventory Management Course taught every six months by ILOS. She worked on the development and management of Online Courses in Logistics and Supply Chain, Supply Processes, Demand Planning, Inventory Management and Industrial Management. Still in the training area, she was responsible for applying ILOS business games in companies such as Raia Drogasil, Fibria, NEC, Novartis and Moove.
