On Wednesday I shared this video about developments in the Amazon Go counter less, cashless, staffless conveyance retail model. Since sharing, several newsagents have contacted me with questions they did want to put their name to here. I agreed to note them and respond. Scroll down…
What is the estimated cost of the technology per store? My rough guess is around $500K, maybe more but not likely to be less at the moment. The cost will fall.
Do you expect to see this in Australia? Yes. I’d be surprised if operators like Coles and Woolworths are not advanced in planning.
If so, when? This year. If not, 2021.
Is this something an individual retailer could do? It’s not practical on a single store level given the role of data and the benefit of sharing labour cost across multiple close proximity stores.
If not, is there an alternative lower labour cost model we could work on? Yes. This required tighter management of inventory mix. That means less stock. Smaller retail space. A store that is focussed on convenience and not only convenience for part of the shop. It requires configuring the business for speed of shop and speed of transaction – not for part of it but all of it.
Where do newsagents fit in this? In the current c-store space in Australia, not that well because those in the space tend to struggle with letting go of being newsagents at their core.
What is your software company doing in this convenience space? I’ll announce more on that at another time.