Amazon Amazes - Again

Please enjoy the thoughts and musings of our friend, supporter, and long-time contributor Art van Bodegraven Jr., who passed away on June 18, 2017. Art was a prolific writer and had amassed a collection of unpublished blog posts he had planned to run well into the future. To honor his memory, we will continue to post these remaining blogs as he had intended. If you’ve been a fan of The Art of Art blog, check out our tribute.

 

Even though some industry observers believe that Amazon is a flash in the pan, and not a sustainable change-maker, Jeff Bezos' love child continues to give fits to the traditional centers of excellence.  In short, Walmart, UPS, and others are fighting - and losing - the battle of Amazon's usurpation of innovation and takeover of the supply chain, from A to Z.

It began, no doubt, with the Kiva acquisition, which revolutionized (and slashed the cost of) pick/pack performance in DCs by bring goods to processors, rather than walking processors to the goods.

The acquisition has been followed by challenging objectives (not pipe dreams) involving drones, blimps, heavenly DCs in the sky, and pre-stocked DCs, with transcient demand-driven content.

Amazon has continued to create demanding consumer expectations, for those willing to pay a little extra for 1 or 2-day gratification ar more for instant (2-hour) gratification.  The parcel carriers have been, of course, thrilled to fill their trucks regularly with consumers' delights and desires.

Comes now the fly in the soup, the doggie doo on their shoe. Bezos and his friends are not taking their collective foot off the pedal.  Despite protestations to the contrary, Amazon is positioned to be its own parcel carrier - from licensure to fleet ownership.

Think about it, bubbie.  Amazon is ready to go to war with Fedex and UPS.  Does Walmart stand a chance, or will they be killed in the struggle?

This war is about way more than price or obvious cost.