Amazon wants to conquer the brick and mortar industry after it has taken over the online mode of shopping. First, it purchased the leading physical store. After that, it is going to prevent the competition from taking away its share in the brick and mortar sector of shopping. Amazon has proposed a patent to stop in-store price comparisons. Something which has helped it to do well against its competitors.
After the news of Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods, grocery chain broke out in the media. The press followed up with a development story that showed Amazon’s plans to patent an algorithm. It is designed to discourage “mobile window shopping”. It has been learned that customers behaviour of visiting stores like Borders and then checking the Amazon prices is what has triggered such a reaction from Amazon. To prevent such customer behaviour Amazon has patented this new technology to kerb price comparison in-store. This will ensure its profits are not diluted because customers are able to see the lowest prices in other stores before purchasing.
At present, the patent is to block the customers from using free store wifi to access other site information. Therefore, if a shopper wants then they can see the comparisons through their mobile network. The patent is designed to monitor the customer searches online and if it finds that the customer is looking at other stores it will redirect the customer to other pages is one way or the other.
It might block the access to competitor’s website or prevent customers from viewing the rivals comparable products. It may redirect the customer to the Amazon website as well or to another website which is part of the Amazon family. Moreover, it will prompt the salesperson to approach the customer. The customer might get a text SMS providing a coupon as well to lure them to purchase it from Amazon.
This has turned out to be a signal to all about what holds in future. Not truly a dystopia as of now, however, it lets us to a crucial moment in the history of Amazon. Analysts have pointed out that the company is looking forward to drastic expansion plans in the delivery of products to customers. According to media analysts, Amazon is trying to get everyone into its fold of ecosystem. Moreover, playing the game of price comparison would not be the greatest omen of them all.
Amazon’s smartphone really did not do well in the market. However, if it had then Amazon could easily prevent its customers from comparing prices for a better deal. Such a scenario would make the customers revolt for now. This is a small example of how big corporations can run their tricks on customers to gobble up the whole market even an economy.
The Whole Foods deal is still not over. It has to go through shareholders and regulators as well. Amazon might need to kerb its ambitions on showing off its strict disdain for competition. It might trigger the customers to start asking questions on Amazon’s ethical practices. Moreover, it might also bring in the government to decide that whether such activities are ani-competition or not.
