File this one somewhere between Holy Sh1t! and Who gives a Shit...
When you see a headline that reads, "Amazon will pay shoppers $5 to walk out of stores empty-handed," it definitely warrants a further read.
Turns out Amazon was in fact offering consumers $5 off if they compare prices using their mobile app during a one day promotion, which took place on December 10th. Actually it was 5% off or up to $5 on a maximum of 3 items.
So yes....lots of conditions, but this is a probe being launched to scour the realms of possibilities and potential. Or of course, if you're a traditional retailer it might feel like an anal probe.
The process is still clunky:
- consumers would walk into a store
- open up their Amazon.com App
- scan a bar code or take a photo of the item in question
- check and compare prices
In retailers' favor, this process makes several assumptions and requires several additional steps to be in place:
- To start, consumers would need to have the app downloaded
- ...and be aware of the service (requires advertising, messaging, CRM etc)
- They'd have to have the time to conduct the comparison searches (which - when time strapped and/or distracted by kids etc - is no given)
- The offer in question would have to be compelling and whilst $5 isn't exactly like hitting the Powerball jackpot, it's not insignificant, especially in these trying times
- They'd have to sacrifice the convenience or desire of walking out the store with the item in question in favor of receiving it 2+ days later
That said, it's quite possibly the beginning of the end and any retailers that ignore this (and mobile in general), are doing it almost certainly at their peril.
Retailers will have to invest now - more than ever - in a combination of innovation, service and experience if they are to remain competitive, differentiated and compelling to consumers.
Anything less is just not good enough.
(Hat tip to Niv for sending this)
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