The guidelines of Amazon’s insatiable expansion strategy leave no room for doubt: the goal is not just the conquest of online shopping, but the conquest of retail, period.

The path traveled since the launch of the first cashier-free Amazon Go store in Seattle on December 5, 2016, its opening to the general public on January 22, 2018, the expansion to and , , and makes it abundantly clear that Amazon is readying to conquer offline retail in the convenience store segment.

At the same time, the company has opened in the United States, which sell stuff its online customers have rated with four stars or more, along with exclusive items such as its range of devices and book selections, which while representing limited interest demand segments also allow the company to tell the world it isn’t just king of online retailing, but is now a brand with a growing physical presence.

In addition to this segment, which is of relative importance in terms of consumption patterns, the company has begun to extend the application of its technology beyond convenience stores , trying out new models suitable for other markets, basically along two lines: the expansion of Whole Foods, following its acquisition in June 2017; and the exploration of segments less open to the online world and banking, such as rural areas in countries such as India.

Regarding the first, : at the time of its acquisition, Whole Foods had 440 stores, all located in densely populated areas with relatively high incomes. Basically, the acquisition provided Amazon with . At that time, the fact that Whole Foods was experiencing problems of growth and profitability, or was testing the patience of its shareholders to the limit was unimportant: what Amazon wanted, clearly, was that strategic physical network.

The steady Amazonification of Whole Foods also leaves no room for doubt: since its acquisition, the chain has undergone a process of democratization in terms of prices, has become less upscale or exclusive, has incorporated many of Amazon’s practices (order pickup, special offers for subscribers of its Prime service, exclusive products, etc.), and has done so, say most customers, without losing its reputation for good service.

Now, Amazon is considering going a step further: . This would not have been possible before the acquisition, but is now considered not only possible, but recommended. After Amazon’s defining leap to logistics in the United States through the democratization of a supermarket chain that provided a positive, but relatively high-priced shopping experience, it now intends to offer that experience at a more competitive price.

At the same time as Amazon is expanding rapidly in the US market, : a market of 800 million people, many of them with very little experience of online shopping and, in many cases, with a very low level of banking use; many still lack access to smartphones. To do this, the company is creating a network of establishments using video to describe its products for users who cannot read, with instructions in local languages, as well as facilitating cash payments. The idea is to compete with Walmart, which after , is going after the same target segment.

Anybody who knows Amazon will know that the company will use the knowledge acquired in these markets for similar launches in others. Will 2019 bring acquisitions of retail chains in other key markets, or will we have to wait a few more years? What type of establishments could be candidates for similar acquisitions? Will Amazon create its own network of stores in other countries, as it has , or will it do so ad hoc to simply gain a foothold?

If one thing has become clear, it’s that Amazon’s threat to traditional retailers no longer comes simply from luring their customers online: it now intends to take the fight directly to them, at street level, with all that that entails. And it’s not like they weren’t warned.

This article was previously published .

(En español, )

Amazon: on a high street near you was originally published in Enrique Dans on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

After the of and its subsequent , on August 28, the chain of supermarkets officially opened under its new ownership and new strategy.

Amazon had been clear about its plans for Whole Foods just two days after the announcement of its acquisition in June: , produced organically, sustainably and from local suppliers, to help shed its expensive and exclusive image, and thus expand its customer base.

The immediate question for anyone familiar with the retail business, however, was what Amazon could do to lower prices in a sector characterized by tight margins.

The company’s response has been immediate: the post-acquisition image of the chain is not only reflected not just by the fact that you can or because , but by .

Whole Foods stores were known to be expensive, but they offered customers quality based on the guaranteed origin of the products, along with imaginative layout and display, as well as the politeness and know-how of employees. Whole Foods never pursued a stack ’em high, sell ’em cheap strategy, and that isn’t the market Amazon is interested in. , precisely the segment in which its . But with the market leader, , seemingly in response to , the company has little time to waste if it wants to grow, and needs to rapidly expand its customer base.

In short, the process of will not occur, at least for the time being, by , but instead by . From the outset, lower prices will attract customers who until now considered them out of their range, or at best a place to buy something for a special occasion. What happens when, for similar or even marginally higher prices than its competitors, customers can enjoy a more pleasant shopping experience in a store where fishmongers or butchers give advice about the products they sell, a place where everything is attractively presented? A place where since yesterday, .

But the question, of course, remains the same: how to lower prices in a chain of supermarkets that was never particularly profitable? That said, . And if supermarkets believe they know which prices should be lowered to attract customers, they have just met , but also has the best and most refined algorithms to do so.

But low prices are not everything. We can expect synergies, which don’t happen overnight: being able to pick up products at the store bought on line, a distinction between the basic stuff we buy with the app or with buttons and the stuff we enjoy buying, that is part of the experience, along with logistics options and the flexibility of of Amazon Prime Now, and soon, much more. I mentioned it in June, the big distributors were up against someone willing to redefine logistics. The United States will be the testing ground. But soon, in a supermarket near you…

(En español, )

The Amazonification of Whole Foods… was originally published in Enrique Dans on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods marks the opening salvo in what promised to be . The operation is not only the largest acquisition ever by Amazon, it also raises numerous questions about its future and will undoubtedly prompt some serious strategic thinking among distribution chains around the world. Most distribution companies would say their sector has undergone transformation over the last two decades, but for most consumers, except for cosmetic changes, the experience of shopping has changed very little. But this acquisition means that in the next two or three years that will determine the future of an industry where some will not survive.

The question is what comes next. Supermarkets around the world have watched as web site that started out in July 1994 as an online bookstore that then began selling more and more things, progressively invading more categories, dominating more and more sectors, and most recently, that of the supermarkets, with Amazon Fresh. With the purchase of Whole Foods, a competitor many supermarket chains saw as a distant competitor, and that others saw as a threat, has made its move into their territory. .

For the big brands, the is a wakeup call as well: customers are no longer interest in promotions, and buy fewer and fewer goods in supermarkets: while lavatory paper, detergent or any number of other products fight for space and visibility on supermarket shelves, more and more consumers prefer to just press a button installed where you use the product, which magically appears at their door within a few hours.

What will Amazon do with Whole Foods? For the moment, everything suggests not much: . However, it is clear that immediate measures are expected to inject efficiency into a chain of supermarkets that seems to be in great need of it, in addition to considering all kinds of synergies between the online and offline world. If Amazon offers Whole Foods an efficient logistics system and works on improving and extending , the acquisition of a chain with an establishment , will give the company a major boost, coupled with the fact that . Just by , or its rooftops as a base for drone deliveries, Amazon will already have introduced synergies capable of sweetening an acquisition like this.

In the US market, the acquisition of Whole Foods and the efficiency Amazon will be able to bring to chain’s operations would be more than enough to fund the operation. And in the rest of the world? Clearly, Amazon, as a US company based in Seattle, has always applied what it has learned in its domestic market, except when legislation has been too slow for it (as in the case of drones, with most tests taking place in the United Kingdom thanks to its laws). What can we expect as a result of acquiring Whole Foods outlets in other countries? What should the large distribution chains in the rest of the world be expecting?

If the acquisition of Whole Foods by Amazon are the creation of a profitable chain in a short time, thus providing an immediate return on the purchase price, we can probably expect Amazon to think about acquiring other supermarket chains in other countries. Given the purchasing power of Amazon, we might expect companies with a similar profile to Whole Foods: attractive to high-income segments, good locations, and with a positive brand identification. If Amazon is able to manage a chain of stores and create synergies within its online empire, the Whole Foods buyout could mark the beginning of the company’s bid for world domination, which in turn could affect not only the big distributors, but all kinds of other establishments.

If you don’t feel like selling your chain to Amazon, then you’re going to have to give some thought as to how to compete with a powerful company with a large retail outlet and that sooner or later, will arrive in your country. Amazon’s ambitions are not limited to the United States, it is a global player, and what it does in the United States it tends to apply to other countries within a few years as it accumulates sufficient experience and knowhow. I can imagine large distribution chains around the world desperately trying to work out how to compete with something like this, on how to become acquisition targets, or on how to compete with whatever is coming, when it comes. This is the biggest thing to happen to distribution in the last century, with the potential to completely revolutionize a hugely important industry.

Is there anybody out there prepared to speculate on what might be Amazon’s next acquisition target after Whole Foods? What might be the consequences for the big chains? What steps would you take to try to compete with a distribution chain backed by Amazon? How long could it take for Amazon to build an unstoppable value proposition for clients, and how many companies would be swept off the board just by an announcement it was starting operations? Is it even possible to stand up to Amazon?

In short, Amazon hasn’t just bought a chain of supermarkets with a presence in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom: it has acquired its entry ticket into the world of large-scale distribution, and next it will roll out its strategy there. Watch this space…

(En español, )

Whole Foods + Amazon: and now? was originally published in Enrique Dans on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.