The recent announcement by the biggest e-commerce giant is an unexpected move in the shopping space. Amazon launched Amazon Go, an offline store service where you just walk in, shop and walk out. No need to wait in lines like your usual trips to Walmart and Costco stores. The move is the combination of deep learning algorithms and technology that can process directly from your phone and gestures of picking up products that you have added them to your cart. An Amazon bill is sent to you when you walk out, so you do not have to deal with any long queues, and shopping becomes a non-tiring fast activity. The service and offline stores will be active from 2017, but it has already struck the wrong cord with people.
Automatic Shopping – Move Goes South with People
This automatic shopping experience might be a great deal technology wise, which it is - but many people will be unemployed if this is adopted on a large scale. The future we always imagined, had robots and drones – is coming too soon because the government is not prepared same goes with the schools and universities. Human resources will suffer longer unemployment if this technology is adopted in more industries besides grocery shopping. Amazon Go is totally innovative and a step towards the future – but it is creating a panic among employees and their family members who are working in similar stores.
Why we need Human Employees in Stores?
Amazon Go might not be accepted because it will not be able to replace the exact human employee interaction that helps you clear your doubts about the grocery, food product or dairy you are about to buy. Unlike the experienced human employees, this will be totally reliant on the information you can Google or maybe a rating system Amazon's online store has. This is totally fishy and foolish because we as customers need convincing when it comes to buying a new product or service. Many human jobs will be gone if stores like Amazon Go come up.
Internet of Things, Job Creation and Smart Homes, Stores, and World
Google, Apple, and many other start-ups as well are trying to build Internet of Things that will lead to a smart, well-connected world. But it is debatable that if it will kill jobs or create jobs. It will create jobs in the technology and support sector, but it will kill jobs like house help, counter jobs, cashiers, etc. We are going to witness an age full of smart apps, gadgets in our hands, wrists, and even our heads. Time is not far when we will have kitchen gadgets that will automatically make us a milkshake as we order it from our study and IoT robots will bring it to us. Playing games in any room with VR and surround sound is the future. Coming home to a ready dinner is going to be the next innovation – though we might forget what it's like to make it on our own and thus become lazier than ever. Amazon is not to blame for innovation, though. It has many verticals that are doing so much for the world be it making Kindle devices, giving us discounted books or better way to watch cinema than free movie streaming sites. We know Amazon Prime is bringing so many new shows that are based on topics untouched by other TV networks.
Are you ready for a smart world enabled by the Internet of things, smart gadgets and innovative stores like Amazon Go? It is worth it having additional skills so that getting a job at such times is not hard and you can lead a happy life. What do you think about the latest store concept by Amazon? Yay or Nay - Jeff Bezos, let us know in comments below.
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