During my stay in NYC, I had the opportunity to visit AmazonGo located at the shopping center Brookfield Place. Below are a couple of images that illustrate the business concept and an opinion on the digital experience.
Focusing on customers' needs and not on the technology
The
entrance looks fresh and welcoming, not emphasizing the IoT technology,
but keeping focus on the traditional products customers look for in a
"to-go" shop.
Marketing & added value
Some
advertisement is provided highlighting the added value of the shop
thanks to sensors, cloud connectivity, and AI.
Strategically, the message is given from the POV of customers and the
benefit they get by shopping in this store.
Guiding customers to enter the shop
People are informed how to shop & what methods they can use to enter the store. Ideally, they should have installed Amazon's app in advance and create a user where they insert their payment methods.
Alternative to start the shopping experience
As seen on the image below, customers can also insert their credit cards to start the experience and later on, complete their line- & concierge-less shopping process.
Need for data privacy disclosure
Customers are also
given the option to scan their palm and register it in the store for a
more seamless experience. Although useful instructions were provided
into how to complete the process, no information on data privacy was
visible at the kiosk.
New shopping pattern
Once entering the shop, customers can take the products they need and thanks to smart sensors connected to the cameras visible on the top, their purchase journey is tracked. When ready, people can simply exit the store and their purchase is automatically executed on their credit cards.
Opinion
Overall, I think the concept of powering supermarkets with IoT technologies and in general, the retail industry, is quite innovative and useful. I believe customers who are particularly interested in supporting innovative businesses will be attracted to these kind of shopping experiences. To-go shops normally don't have long lines, therefore, I would expect this concept to be extended to traditional supermarkets, where the inflow of customers is larger.
When entering the shop, the first impression was positive, however, at the moment to access the entrance door, I felt hindered since I didn't install the app in advance. Thanks to the guidance of the concierge at the store, I was informed of the alternative to use my credit card. This touch-point could be improved to avoid customers getting confused and frustrated in their purchase journey, providing clearer cues on the alternatives they have to enter.
Once inside, I felt quite well, like in a typical shop. However, at the moment of exiting, I felt very insecure and strange. I don't exit stores without going through the payment process either with a person or with a self-service machine, despite knowing in advance that this was the shopping experience I was going to have.
As a first experience, this may be normal, however, the topic here is how technology is either transforming social mental models and behavioral patterns when shopping or breaching people's concepts or frameworks on how to purchase towards a phygital store evolution. I believe it may take a while until people adjust and accept this new mental model. Also, when expanding this shopping concept to other countries/cities, care should be taken to not face rejection from customers due to the newness in shopping. Good communication/marketing should support this innovative IoT business concept.
Check out an experience strategy project inspired on this approach in retail, using Google's guideline on human-centered AI design. In this concept, elements of customers' trust, data ethics, transparency, and feedback loops were considered to enhance the shopping experience.
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