Amazon Go Website showing the list of someone’s groceries and how easy it is to scan items

Would you ever find yourself in a situation where checking items out wouldn’t be required? Forbes’ blog post explores Amazon’s newly introduced Amazon Go application, that aims to improve the grocery shopping experience using the tag line “No lines, no checkout”. Instead of the typical grocery store, they use a digital shopping cart, allowing shoppers to walk in and out of the grocery without waiting in a checkout line.

When I read the Forbes post, I asked myself, how is this even possible? How can a business execute such a strategy that requires such advance technology? The list of questions that circulated around my head were endless.

It is not only Amazon Go that has amazed me, but many of their other innovations like Amazon Prime Air have also caught my attention. Having my own Amazon account and being in charge of family groceries, I can imagine the experience of walking out the doors without having to wait in a 20-minute line, or having to schedule when I should go to avoid peak hours. However, one major concern comes to mind: what happens to employees?

Since Amazon bought Wholefoods in August, it is expected that the customer experience is going to become identical to Amazon Go. With that being said, could this jeopardize Wholefood’s 91,000 employees?

In an everyday grocery store, employees are highly valued. They make the lives of the customers easier by guiding shoppers to where they need to be and by scanning and bagging all the goods purchased. Recently however, the evolution of advanced technology has made this case less true. From the implementation of self-service checkout to now having no checkout at all. It is unfortunate to believe that the likeliness of redundancy of thousands is bound to happen. At the end of the day, all businesses desire to have is profit, and the use of technology that makes the customer experience faster and simpler is usually the optimal solution.

Why is this useful for not just me, but for us? Put yourself in my shoes: a university student who usually has barely anything in her refrigerator and really has to get lunch before her 1:00pm class. Having a grocery store like Amazon Go would be the ideal option. All you have to do is grab what you need and go, it’s that simple. In short, it could be, as Forbes says, “The Internet of Food”

Overall, the growth of Amazon over the last decade has truly amazed me. From buying a simple necessity on the Internet, to being able to have deliveries through drones, and no-checkout grocery stores. And all they hope to achieve are more Amazon users and more opportunity to benefit their customers.

Word Count: 450

Works Cited

Say, M. (2017, January 20). Amazon Go Is About Payments, Not Grocery. Retrieved October 28, 2017, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/groupthink/2017/01/20/amazon-go-is-about-payments-not-grocery/#38c849a467e4

 

It is essential for businesses in any industry to satisfy the needs and wants of their customers. Moreover, it is extremely crucial for international businesses to fulfil their customer’s desires to succeed and make a significant amount of revenue. An important factor considering international business operations is culture and how multinational companies can adapt to the ever-changing environment. Culture is defined as the beliefs, values and norms within a business that define communication, working relationships and motivation between internal stakeholders. (Hoang 3^rd Edition).

Starbuck’s Inc. is a classic example of adapting to cultural norms. They currently operate in more than 24,000 locations worldwide (Starbuck’s Inc.) in 70 countries including the USA and China. Through one of their core values being “creating a culture of warmth and belonging, where everyone is welcome” already shows the significance of culture and how it affects their sales and reputation.

A picture of Starbuck’s in Chengdu, Sichuan Province with traditional Chinese building elements (Mark Ralston) 

China and south east Asia’s market sales have largely contributed to sales. The 23% growth rate of income in 2016 would have not been possible without major changes to Starbuck’s marketing strategy and research and development. Through spending $378.8 million on market research in 2016 (Garnick, Puget Sound Business Journals), one major point that they found was that China had an emerging tea culture. (Sorkin, NYTimes).

Starbuck’s decided to release a tea line with Teavana for their Asian market. Being a loyal Starbuck’s fanatic from the Philippines, I observed that a large proportion of customers order tea instead of coffee. I was super happy when I discovered the release of Teavana at my local Starbuck’s. In fact, my favorite drink is part of the Teavana line! Not only did they add a line of tea beverages, but they also changed their store’s ambiance and altered their recruitment and management strategies to suit their Asian markets.

Was this worth it? Former CEO Howard Schultz said that he’d like to open 2400 more locations in China by 2021, and current CEO Kevin Johnson had recently announced that their ditching Teavana in the USA to focus on growing their business in China. (Quartz). It’s not like their 10% annual growth rate has done any good to the business!

The changes that Starbuck’s has made to satisfy China’s cultural norms have clearly affected their sales throughout their years of operation. With a total revenue of $21.32 billion in 2016 (Statistica), Starbuck’s remains at the top of the ready to drink coffee market with 75% of the market share (Trefis Team, Forbes). However, to achieve the satisfaction of markets of different geographical ranges, it is necessary to sacrifice costly expenses on factors such as high quality market research, operations, and a consistent human resource management.

At the end of the day, business is about taking risks, and learning from them.

Word count: 449

Works Cited

* All products require an annual contract.    Prices do not include sales tax    (New York residents only). (n.d.). Starbucks: revenue 2016. Retrieved October 13, 2017, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/266466/net-revenue-of-the-starbucks-corporation-worldwide/

Hoang, P. (2014). International baccalaureate Business and Management (3rd ed.). Place of publication not identified: Ibid Press.

Purdy, C. (2017, July 28). Starbucks is ditching its tea business as it shifts focus to China. Retrieved October 13, 2017, from https://qz.com/1040957/starbucks-teavana-stores-are-closing-as-the-company-pivots-to-china/

Ralston, M. (n.d.). Picture of Starbucks in Chengdu with Chinese traditional building elements [Photograph]. Chengdu, Sichuan Province.

Sorkin, A. R. (2017, July 31). While Other U.S. Companies Flee China, Starbucks Doubles Down. Retrieved October 13, 2017, from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/31/business/dealbook/sorkin-china-starbucks.html

Starbucks Reports Record Q2 FY17 Revenues and EPS. (n.d.). Retrieved October 13, 2017, from https://investor.starbucks.com/press-releases/financial-release/2017/Starbucks-Reports-Record-Q2-FY17-Revenues-and-EPS/default.aspx

Team, T. (2016, September 19). Let’s Look At Starbucks’ Growth Strategy. Retrieved October 13, 2017, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2016/09/19/lets-look-at-starbucks-growth-strategy/#2fdd92243d71