Tag Archives: delivery

17 January 2024
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Business, Devices

Amazon Dash

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Amazon is killing off the Dash button later this month | TechCrunch

Amazon Dash was a groundbreaking initiative that revolutionized the way customers replenished everyday essentials. Launched in 2015, the Dash devices provided a seamless and convenient shopping experience, allowing users to effortlessly reorder their favorite products with a simple press of a button or a scan of a barcode.

The buttons were strategically designed to be placed in proximity to the corresponding products, becoming an integral part of users’ daily routines. This hands-on approach to online shopping resonated well with consumers, especially for items like household supplies, pet food, and personal care products. The instant gratification of pressing a button and having the product delivered to your doorstep was a novel concept that gained widespread popularity.

The Dash buttons not only simplified the purchasing process but also provided Amazon with valuable insights into consumer behavior and preferences. By analyzing the data collected from these devices, Amazon could tailor recommendations and promotions to better cater to individual needs. This personalized approach was a key factor in the success of the Dash program, as evidenced by the substantial portion of repeat orders, with up to 60% of items being products customers regularly purchased.

Rivian и Amazon построили электрический фургон — ДРАЙВ

Despite its initial success, Amazon decided to discontinue the Dash buttons in 2019, marking the end of an era for this innovative shopping solution. The decision to halt production and sales was attributed to Amazon’s strategic shift towards other programmatic and hardware solutions. Dash Replenishment, an automated reordering system embedded in compatible devices, and voice shopping through virtual assistants like Alexa, took center stage as Amazon adapted to evolving consumer trends and preferences.

While the Dash buttons may no longer be available, their impact on the e-commerce landscape is undeniable. They served as a precursor to the Internet of Things (IoT) in retail, showcasing the potential for interconnected devices to enhance the shopping experience. As technology continues to advance, Amazon remains at the forefront of innovation, constantly exploring new avenues to make the customer journey more seamless and efficient.

As we reflect on the Dash era, it’s a testament to Amazon’s ability to experiment with novel concepts, learn from them, and evolve its strategies to stay ahead in the competitive e-commerce landscape. While the physical Dash buttons may have faded into history, their influence on the future of retail and consumer behavior is likely to endure.

https://www.insiderintelligence.com/content/here-s-why-amazon-s-dash-button-wasn-t-a-failure

https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/3/1/18246383/amazon-dash-buttons-discontinued-alexa-germany-regulation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Dash

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2018/03/29/amazon-dash-buttons-a-look-at-the-future-of-shopping/?sh=7eb7018f3396

https://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=17437623011

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24 January 2019
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Amazon Scout robots are on their way to deliver packages

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Amazon Scout is a fully-electric robot that uses autonomous devices to safely deliver goods to the customers. 

After many hours of development in Seattle, Amazon has finally decided to let their robots to the tasks they were designed for. Initially, only 6 robots have been released now and all of them are in Washington state, Snohomish County. They will deliver packages Monday through Friday in daylight hours. While traveling through the County’s pavements, the robots can avoid human, pets or other objects on the way, but at the initial release which took place at Wednesday – Amazon said that the robots will be accompanied by an Amazon employee.

This is how the process is supposed to look like.

As you can see the robot is fairly big. My main concern is security. What could be stopping a potential robber from just straight up coming up and stealing the whole robot or when the lid opens taking out the package and running off. The idea is great, but somehow seems to have many holes that could be exploited. Those questions aren’t answered yet, but Amazon is looking at it pretty optimistically.

We are happy to welcome Amazon Scout to our growing suite of innovative delivery solutions for customers and look forward to taking the learnings from this first neighborhood so Amazon Scout can, over time, provide even more sustainability and convenience to customer deliveries.

Looks like they are equipped with proper tools and a plan. It is very exciting to see new autonomous devices helping people like this robot or Amazon’s drones. Questions will arise:

Is it likely for robots like this to take jobs away from people, leading to more unemployment?

And when will the technology leave the US and make it to Poland?

 

source: https://blog.aboutamazon.com/transportation/meet-scout

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7 November 2017
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Now Amazon lets strangers inside your home

Reading Time: 3 minutesHave your ever thought, how convenient it might be to have your package delivered inside your house or apartment when you are not at home, or get your friends to access your place to feed your cat, when you forgot to give them a key? Well, Amazon had already been thinking about such opportunity for a while.

In fact, the world of IoT is not sleeping and is in the process of creation of new things to make your life easier. On October 25th, 2017, Amazon has launched a new service to comfort its customers at most – the Amazon Key to allow an in-home delivery.

The idea behind that is to allow the Amazon courier to deliver the packages, you have ordered, to your place and leave it behind your front door, even if you are out of your place. Amazon has gone much further than just the smart key, as it provides a whole kit of services, like cloud camera, smart lock and application. For now, the service is available only for Amazon Prime users and it costs around 250$.

So, how does it work?

You order from Amazon and on the day of delivery you are notified that your package is about to arrive. Then, it is just up to you to authorize a carrier to enter your house or not. And, if you’ve decided to let a stranger to come in, the smart lock will open the door. Though, to ensure full security of your belongings, you get the chance to watch the stranger-carrier through the camera installed in front of your door, which starts working when there is motion detected.

Besides, you are also able to allow your entrusted people to enter your place by the same way – authorizing them through the application.

Isn’t it great?! Isn’t it a good solution to manage your tasks at home, while being not at home?

Unfortunately, according to Recode, only 5% of Americans and 4% of Prime Amazon users would definitely add this new tech to their homes, while 60% would not take this step.

But, why there is such a negative reaction to this new and so convenient tool? The answer is easy – security! There rises a tough question – do you trust people to enter your house, even if they are watched? The reason for such attitude is that the security is based only on one small camera that is supposed to record every motion that is going on inside your house.

Therefore, according to The Verge,  the cloud cam would be able to learn what are the normal in-house motions, like your dog, cat or your child and in future, it would easily distinguish some foreign to your house triggers in order to produce various alerts (the camera is also installed with microphone and speakers).

In result, it is up to you – to step on the side of safety or the side of convenience.

Though, there is always a question of security as we are entering a new way of living, by allowing technology to make a great change in the things that we are so used to. But, maybe, it is worth giving up some old norms, patterns and habits and open new doors to the other era.

 

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1 November 2015
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Your habits are going to change…

Reading Time: 3 minutes…when it comes to buying online. eCommerce as we know it is about to change. We may have just got started with buying our electronics, books, home appliances and vacations online, but eCommerce is constantly changing and faster than ever. Just this summer, twitter introduced product pages, amazon offers grocery shopping to prime customers and Instagram is turning more and more into a promo machine for brands . One of the most anticipated eCommerce revolutions is Pinterest’s buy button. E-commerce is advancing into new markets and the offering is growing exponentially. Some of the sectors, highly restricted at this point, will change drastically over the next few years. Thinking about online pharmacies, we are in for a revolution, once e-prescription becomes a common standard in many countries. The healthcare sector, already in the spotlight due to the possibilities that arise in the field of big data, etc., will also become a strong force in the e-commerce sector. These may be just assumptions at this point, but the signs are obvious, if we look at the growth rates in eCommerce sales.

We start hearing about “uber for deliveries”, drones and many more services targeted at the boom in eCommerce. Probably, more than any other supporting industry, we will also see the logistics sector literally transforming overnight. While in most cases 24h delivery is not a thing yet, we are already talking about delivery a few hours after an online purchase has been logged. A challenge and a sea of opportunities, especially in markets like Poland with strong eCommerce growth rates, but a rather fragile logistics network that still has some room for improvement, if we compare it to its German neighbor.

A cha7aaace0f44fe1ecf06be692d148b4959llenging situation also for many shops that are currently still trading exclusively offline, facing a growing online competition, which is able not only to offer better prices, but also faster deliveries. In how many cases do you really need something right now? Might it not be more comfortable to order something in the morning and pick it up on your way home after work? A chance for offline shops to become part of the online landscape, enabled by platforms of various industries that make setting up your e-shop as easy as creating a Gmail address. Increase your reach of customers significantly, just by signing up on a webpage.

Going back to the so called „mail order pharmacy“, issues that we are currently facing are high abandonment rates, specifically in this sector. The reasons for this are various. One of the most apparent reason is that people tend to compare prices in different eCommerce outlets, thus abandoning the basket once they compared different baskets in different e-shops. With a growing number of e-outlets, consumers start to get lost in the eCommerce jungle of hundreds of shops that seem to offer products for the same conditions. While offline stores have the possibility of differentiation through their location, this is not possible for eCommerce businesses. In most cases this leads to hard price competition and smaller businesses are usually the ones left behind in this battle.

Many smaller businesses that would like to advance into eCommerce are going to have to change the way the play the game. eCommerce is a different game, with different rules and a lot of businesses do not seem ready for the challenge yet, which at the end leads to bigger businesses taking home the grand prize. The winner takes it all.

What are the limitations to eCommerce? What would you never buy online?

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