It's not just Amazon coming for Whole Foods – Silicon Valley is eating the world
Amazon is eating the world, one industry at a time. Last Friday, the gargantuan retailer paid $13.7bn (£10.7bn) to buy Whole Foods Market in the US, an acquisition that threw the global grocery business into a fit of nerves. After the deal was announced, Amazon’s stock price rose by more than the price it is paying for Whole Foods; meanwhile, Walmart’s dropped by 5%, as did Tesco’s. Wall Street can see the writing on the wall: Amazon is taking over.
It’s not just supermarkets that Amazon is coming for. The technology company accounts for 43% of online sales in the US, yet in today’s winner-takes-all economy it likely won’t be happy until it accounts for 100% of all sales, everywhere. Earlier this year, Amazon launched seven private-label clothing brands in a push to grow its fashion presence and there have been rumours swirling that the company is planning a significant move into the pharmacy market.
Read more here: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/20/amazon-whole-foods-silicon-valley-global-domination
Yet people still need a place to go and hang out, and maybe spend a little, kick the tires on items and maybe buy online later. Look at Starbucks, people go to be seen and then for coffee.
That is what Amazon is intending to do with the Whole Foods purchase. They are looking to reinvent the way people shop and interact with brands. Stores and shops will sell stuff, but they will also be a place for people to interact with a brand, or with items, then purchase later while home on the ipad watching netflix.
Like I said, people still want to go somewhere, just not wal-mart and target anymore.
I see this going down as follows... US Gov steps in to break up the monopoly and WalMart has the power to initiate. Amazon's weakness is actually tied to what some consider WalMarts weakness... The Brick and Mortar store locations. What is not foreseen is the hyperinflation and death of the dollar that allows those WalMart stores to... Barter and Trade. And that is Amazon's weakness... No reach to the peeps for whats coming. But that's not gonna be easy for WalMart either... Dollar General and Dollar Tree will be no slouches in the coming times either.