Amazon made headlines last week following news it opened its first till-less grocery store in the UK.
Shoppers can pick up their goods and leave the Ealing, West London, store without having to visit a till.
The Amazon Fresh store has been dubbed a ‘contactless’ shop available to anyone signed up to Amazon.
And with the app on their phone. Customers are required to scan in a code on their phone to gain entry in a huge move for the company.
But what does this massive step mean for CX? Brian Atkinson, GM and VP EMEA, Five9, said he considers the significance of the move and how it reflects evolving consumer expectations.
He explained: “The move to till-less grocery stores shows how Amazon is really listening to what consumers want in the current climate.
“The pandemic has caused a major shift in consumer expectations. Retailers able to create frictionless end-to-end shopping experiences will do much to win over many consumers who are fed up with large queues into stores and lengthy delivery times.”
Atkinson added: “Amazon has been extra creative here, applying innovation to the cause and making ease and convenience for consumers the number one goal. There’s no lip service being paid.
“Branching out into brick and mortar shows a commitment to delivering real value to customers across the board. This will only serve to strengthen loyalty to the retailer even further, as well as expanding their already huge customer base.”
Clive Black, Shore Capital analyst, said he believed Amazon would want up to 30 contactless outlets in the first phase of its expansion in the UK. The group already has more than 20 similar contactless grocery stores in the US under the name Amazon Go.
Black added the new store could be a “seminal moment in the history of the UK grocery market” and showed Amazon’s ambitions in the sector.
He said: “The patient and rather delicate expansion that the group has taken to date in the UK, revolving around gradually building its online service, notably in collaboration with Morrisons, and its investment in the rapid delivery channel through Deliveroo, were never to us going to be the full extent of its ambitions.”
