Opening Insights
A Bloomberg article by Matthew Boyle, dated 18 August 2017, highlights the growing development and positioning of the corporate battle between retail giants - Wal-mart and Amazon.
As we examine the innovation and growth within the retail market we need to assess not just, WHAT is happening, but HOW and WHY it is happening, as well as what it means not just for the retail or industry, but humanity itself.
Informational Insights
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has opened a new front in its battle with Amazon.com Inc.
The world’s largest retailer has applied for a U.S. patent for a floating warehouse that could make deliveries via drones, which would bring products from the aircraft down to shoppers’ homes.
The blimp-style machine would fly at heights between 500 feet and 1,000 feet (as much as 305 meters), contain multiple launching bays, and be operated autonomously or by a remote human pilot. Amazon was granted a patent for a similar vessel in April 2016.
The migration to the skies represents the latest volley in a clash between Wal-Mart and Amazon to grab shoppers’ attention, loyalty and dollars. In the process, the companies are increasingly treading on the other’s turf: Amazon is opening physical stores and agreed to pay $13.7 billion for upscale grocer Whole Foods Market Inc. Wal-Mart, meanwhile, has beefed up its e-commerce business through acquisitions and offers like free two-day shipping.
An unmanned airborne warehouse -- laden with drones -- could help retailers lower the costs of fulfilling online orders, particularly the so-called “last mile” to a customer’s house, which is usually handled by a local or national logistics company. To avoid that expense, Wal-Mart and other retailers often encourage shoppers to pick up those orders at the store, where they might grab a few additional items. Earlier this week, Target Corp. agreed to acquire a software company that coordinates local deliveries.
“The core challenge of traffic and driving distance in any major city or in a very rural location can be helped by a floating warehouse,” said Brandon Fletcher, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein. “Movable warehouses are a really nice idea because any flexible part of a logistics system allows it to be more efficient when demand varies wildly. The e-commerce world suffers from highly variable demand and more creative solutions are needed.”
Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-18/wal-mart-s-amazon-war-takes-to-skies-with-floating-warehouses
Possibilities for Consideration
As the power hungry giants of retail fight for the right to survive and capture the market through more advanced technologies what will happen to consumers and warehouse workers? In our search to be the best and be number 1 are these companies forgetting the real bottom line - customer loyalty, employee loyalty, people loyalty?
- What does this mean for warehouse workers and the the job market as a whole?
- What does this mean for the job employment, development and opportunities?
- What does this mean for small, mid-size and large retailers?
- What is the real agenda behind these innovations?
Add Your Insight
The best way to predict your future is to create it.
PETER F. DRUCKER
