Difference between Amazon Go and Competitors


Over the past five years, Amazon has worked hard to expand into the largest and most customer-centric business on the planet. For this reason, the company has diversified its operations. Amazon is always investing in new services and products in order to grow its main retail business. It has provided a fresh viewpoint in one of these domains, notably retail shop purchases. The retail giant has recently introduced the most advanced shopping technology in the world. Amazon Go is an innovative concept for retail that was announced by the company in 2018. The company markets this service under the motto "No lineups, no checkout – simply grab and go!" Amazon Go is an American convenience store business that Amazon owns and runs.

Amazon Go launched with a single store in Seattle, but the business has grand plans to open as many as 3,000 stores throughout the country by 2021. The retail titan isn't the only one offering a cashier-less grocery shopping experience, though. Many more competitors are taking part in the race for first place. Amazon's international rivals include e-commerce sites like Alibaba's Hema, the New York-based startup Dirty Lemon, and the South Korean multinational giant Lotte. The competition is fierce since their opponents are always innovating and releasing new consumer goods.

What is Amazon Go?

Amazon Go best exemplifies the consequences of Amazon's customer focus on streamlining complex procedures. Amazon did this by eliminating the checkout process, which is widely considered the most frustrating part of conventional shopping. Amazon has taken that concept and run with it, unveiling a new way to shop in stores called Amazon Go. At the Amazon Go store, shoppers just stroll in, select the products they want, and leave without ever having to contact a cashier.

Amazon has made that idea a practical one. In 2018, Amazon launched its Amazon Go convenience store in Seattle. To make a purchase at an Amazon Go shop, customers need both a smartphone with the Amazon Go app and a verified Amazon account. Using a QR code generated by the Amazon Go app as identification, customers may shop for their necessities without having to stop at a cash register. A transaction will be made to your Amazon account from the store, and you can get your receipt from within the app.

Competitors of Amazon Go

Unfortunately, Amazon isn't alone in causing waves in the retail industry. Especially in light of the recent spike in performance from new players, the fight for the top spot is fierce. With the launch of its new business model and the debut of its cashier-less grocery store, Hema, Alibaba is one company that is reimagining the conventional shopping experience.

Hema is a retailer that launched in 2015 and uses an innovative retail business approach by selling both brick-and-mortar products and digitally delivered services. The Chinese retail and e-commerce juggernaut known as "New Retail" created a digitally empowered retail service that merges media, entertainment, and financial services. The product line has been dubbed "New Retail" by the manufacturer. Its internet-enabled food shop, Hema, is modeled like Amazon Go but has a wide range of additional capabilities. The San Francisco-based Standard Cognition, the Israeli-based Trigo Vision, and the Dutch-based Albert Heijn are also players in the cashier-less retail industry.

Differences: Amazon Go and its Competitors

The following table highlights how Amazon Go is different from its competitors −

Characteristics Amazon Go Competitors
Definition Amazon Go is a chain of convenience stores in the United States that is owned and operated by Amazon. Competitors in the market for self-service brick-and-mortar shops include not just Alibaba Tao Cafe but also Grabango, AiFi, Standard Cognition, Lotte, Albert Heijn, and Zippin.
Technology Amazon Go uses image recognition technology, AI, and machine learning as part of its monitoring system. The foundation of Amazon Go is an ambient intelligence system. Alibaba employs facial recognition, Lotte employs biometric verification, Dirty Lemon accepts payments through SMS, etc., in contrast to Amazon Go. This technology is not used by Amazon Go.
Market Currently, Amazon Go has up to 18 locations in operation across the United States. Alibaba Hema is responsible for more than 150 convenience stores in 21 different Chinese cities.

Conclusion

The Amazon Go convenience stores may be located around the United States and are owned and operated by the online retail giant Amazon. It's an innovative method of managing a supermarket that does away with cashiers and makes food buying more convenient. Shoppers may just go in, select their goods, and leave without interacting with a sales clerk. Using the unproven ambient intelligence system as the basis for company operations is a novel idea. Each step of the process is monitored by a network of hundreds of cameras. Theft is extremely difficult to commit in Amazon Go shops because of the extensive usage of image recognition technology, AI, and machine learning in the monitoring process.

Amazon isn't the only company working on a way to eliminate cashiers from retail stores. There is competition from other firms as well. Other companies are also investing in this sector. Alibaba's Tao Cafe and Hema also serve as examples of an ambient intelligence system. Many rivals employing essentially the same retail business model are vying for the top spot.

Updated on: 06-Dec-2022

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