Instructions

Instruction:Read and answer article 1-3.

Article 1

GET, IT, GO, JUST WALK OUT: AMAZON'S PROPOSED REINVENTION OF THE PROCESS CHECKOUT

Source:George Anderson, "Did Amazon Just Put Its Go Technology in a Shopping Cart?" Retail Wire, July 15, 2020; George Anderson, "Will Rival Retailers Buy Amazon's 'Just Walk Out' Technology?" Retail Wire, March 10, 2020

Why would Amazon, with its primarily online offerings, develop new and advanced technology to facilitated physical, in-store purchasing? Because it knows that such advances can help secure its dominant position for the future, whether it decides to open new physical store operations or sell its technology innovations to other retailers - or both.

Amazon's Just Walk Out checkout technology already is installed in its experimental Go stores, enabling shoppers to gather the items they want and leave without ever going through a checkout line. They use a credit card to gain access to the store, and then sensors, both on each product and throughout the store, determine what items they have taken and charge the card when they leave.

To build on these internal operations, Amazon has built a shopping cart equipped with the Just Walk Out technology too. Using visual algorithms and advanced sensors, the cart can determine what items a shopper has put into it. Again, the shopper's credit card gets charged for the purchases, without requiring any further effort by the consumer. In addition, a screen integrated into the cart allows shoppers to sign in to their Amazon account, so they can track shopping lists they created at home with the help of their Alexa device or double check prices.

The cart is slated to be introduced soon in a single Amazon store in California, but clearly, it could be expanded to other stores, whether owned by Amazon or maintained by other retailer chains. Those competitors would simply need to invest in purchasing the technology and carts from Amazon to attain a highly sophisticated way to make shopping easier and quicker for their customers.

Such spread is likely a goal for Amazon, according to its parallel efforts to push sales of Just Walk Out. Some early reports indicate that it is in negotiations with retailer operators located in airports, as well as a national movie theatre chain, to license the technology. However, its expansion seemingly has been limited by the substantial investments these buyers would need to make, in that they would need to purchase the technology but also retrofit their stores to install sensors. Arguably, the cart might be the more workable, affordable solution for various retailers to leverage the opportunities that Amazon first built for itself but now is seeking to share.

Discussion Questions:

1. 1. How does the cart facilitate the spread of the Just Walk Out technology tool?
   2. Why is Amazon seeking to sell its proprietary technology to potential competitors? What are the pros and cons of doing so?

Article 2

T

THEY SEE YOU WHEN YOU'RE SHOPPING

https://www.theretailingmanagement.com/

When visitors to luxury brand websites put a product in their shopping cart, the retailers want to respond right away, with encouragement and support to help them make the purchase. These are not little household goods from Amazon or cleaning supplies from Walmart.com; these carts include a900Guccibomberjacketsforatoddlerora3900 purse from Neiman Marcus. To move these high-end customers along their journey, retailers increasingly turn to the services offered by Powerfront and its data analytics tool, Inside.

The service not only gathers customer data, but it also presents them

in a way that is easy for customer sales representatives to understand and act on. Through Inside, each customer on the focal retail site is represented by a small cartoon avatar that looks a little like a bowling pin. As this online shopper provides more informationwhether by clicking on different color variations for a particular shirt, moving the cursor at different speeds, putting products in the shopping basket and then taking them out, or using words that signal their moodsInside gathers the insights to add detail to its depiction. It also integrates information gathered from the customer's previous visits to the site. Thus it might be able to identify one shopper as tempted and excited about buying a pair of shoes, but not quite ready to place the order, then recognize that another shopper seems to be having a rough day and is trying a little retail therapy to gain an improved mood.

Such information, presented using cartoon symbols and images (e.g., smiley face, emoji hearts, a shopping bag accessory if the cart has items in it, a ribbon if the customer has purchased a lot before), makes it easy for human service and sales employees to gauge the tone and tactics they should use, if the customer clicks on the "want help?" chat button.

Once the customer has initiated the chat, the representative seeks to provide the levelofservice that any luxury customer might expect, even in stores. Even if the interaction is not face-to-face, they can express empathy with the depressed shopper, tease the excited potential buyer about how great it would be to have the shoes, help an indecisive shopper decide among a few potential options, and inform a grandparent about precisely which pair of sneakers will be the coolest gift they can give their teenaged grandchild. All of these actions also aim to appear personalizedtothe person's past preferences. Even if the representative has not actually interacted with the shopper before, it is possible to simulate such familiarity, because the vast amount of data, presented inanintuitive form, makes the necessary information readily accessible.

Notably, though the data analytics are powered by advanced, cutting-edge technology, the chat agents are all human, not bots. Powerfront's clients include retailers such as Neiman Marcus, Gucci, and Sephora. Customers on these sites likely would reject a canned or automated response from a bot, as poorly aligned with the likelihood that they might spend thousandsofdollars during the transaction. Thus far, bots still have not attained the level of development at which they can sense consumers' emotions and respond in kind.

Discussion Questions:

1. 1. What does Powerfront do?
   2. What types of retailers benefit most from Powerfront's services?
   3. From a customer perspective, would buying from a retailer that uses Powerfront influence your purchasing behavior?
   4. How do Powerfront's services influence the buying process?

Article 3

BOOKSTORE CHAINS, LONG IN DECLINE, ARE UNDERGOING A FINAL SHAKEOUT

Source:David Streitfeld, The New York Times, December 28, 2017

When sales in a particular industry or retail sector decline by something like 40 percent in a decade, it becomes pretty difficult to continue on using the same methods. And so, even after they weathered the storms that took out some long-gone competitors, the remaining brick-and-mortar bookstore chains are facing a new tsunami of insufficient profits, as well as little choice but to shutter their doors.

The most recent victim is Book World, a 45-store chain that ranked as the fourth largest in the Unived States. It announced it was closing its stores and liquidating all its inventory. That leaves Barnes & Noble, the largest bookstores chain, which itself closed approximately 10 percent of its stores in the past few years, and Books-a-Million, which underwent its own bankruptcy scare but remained in operations after being taken private.

The new name that now takes the fourth spot inthe rankings of bookstore chains might come as a little bitofa surprise, considering that it widely blamed for the collapse of this retail sector. That is, in opening dozens of brick- and-mortar stores to complement its online operations, Amazon now counts among this group of retailers that sells hard copies of books to shoppers in its storeseven as most of the other members of this group mourn their inability to compete with Amazon's provision of easy, quick book shipments.

This development may sound like more of the same, but it actually represents a shift in the book market. Several years back, prognosticators thought that digital readers and ebooks would replace physical books completely, such that book retailers would be left with nothing to sell. That prediction has not been borne out; many consumers stilllikethe feel of a book in their hands, such that sales of ebooks have remained pretty consistent in the past few years.

But the difference is that those consumers who want to hold on to a book still are not visiting their local store to purchase it. Instead, they order it from Amazon and get it shipped to them, along with their household goods, holiday presents, and so forth. A few modern shoppers might visit a bookstore (including one run by Amazon) to enjoy the experience of browsing the shelves, but far more of them appreciate the convenience of getting the latest novel with a simple click.

Even if they survived the ebook revolution, the future for bookstores thus remains tenuous. One promising option might rely on localization. Rather than vast chainswithcentralized operations, which compete largely on price but cannot ultimately do better than Amazon on this value offer, small, independently run stores can differentiate themselves as local members of the community. They can offer personalized recommendations and a chance to interact with other book lovers who like to spend a few hours finding unexpected options stacked on shelves. That's the sort of experience that scanning the pages on Amazon's site can never recreate.

Discussion Questions:

1. 1. What is happening in the book store sector?
   2. Why is it happening?
   3. Which other retail sectors are vulnerable to similar trends? Justify your response.