We tested Amazon’s speedy delivery live on the podcast: Here’s what it says about the future of retail

Amazon promises 30-minute delivery with its new Amazon Now service. We put it to the test — live on the GeekWire Podcast — with help from Michael Levin and Josh Lowitz, co-founders of Consumer Intelligence Research Partners and two of the sharpest Amazon watchers we know.

While we wait for our order of yogurt, blueberries, and flossers (long story), Levin and Lowitz explain why Amazon closed its grocery stores, what its massive future 225,000-square-foot superstore in suburban Chicago could mean, and why Amazon’s real play is becoming the ultimate convenience store.

“They’ve totally rewritten so much of retail, and I don’t think they’re done,” Levin said. As they see it, Amazon has essentially substituted its logistics operation for its physical retail presence, with more than half of orders now arriving same day or next day, up from a small fraction just five years ago.

In other words, don’t take the store closures as capitulation.

“Their investments in logistics are working, and I wouldn’t expect them to take their foot off the gas at all,” Lowitz said. “They’re not scared of making mistakes.”
Plus: Test your Amazon knowledge in our trivia segment. Will Josh and Mike get it right?

Related stories and links: 

• CIRP Newsletter: Amazon Report on Substack
• CIRP: By Closing Stores, Amazon Goes All-In on Delivery
• GeekWire: Amazon closing all Amazon Fresh and Go stores to focus on Whole Foods and grocery delivery
• “Learn and Be Curious,” the new podcast from Doug Herrington, the Amazon Worldwide Stores CEO.

Edited by Curt Milton.