Greg's Corner

Swedish company testing mobile store that seems to solve the problems Amazon Go has

Previously, we’ve posted on this blog about Amazon Go, Amazon’s proposed attempt at an automated brick and mortar store with no employees. One of the issues Amazon came up against was that the store’s system crashed when there were too many people in the store. To that end, the store with no employees would then require employees. Now, a Swedish company is testing a similar concept, and may have a better grasp on the concept than Amazon.

Wheely’s Cafe is a company that already franchises mobile coffee stands around the world. Now, they are testing a mobile marketplace called Moby. Like Amazon Go, it has no employees, however, unlike Amazon Go it only allows four people inside at a time. Also, rather than being a brick and mortar store, a Moby is mobile. While now it requires a driver, Wheely’s is hoping to use autonomous driving in the future. Currently, Moby is only in beta testing and is only being tested in select Asian markets.

Amazon may want to take a few hints from Wheely’s by making Amazon Go mobile. Not only could they be used as regular stores like Amazon is proposing, they could also be used as a sort of delivery hub. The last mile of delivery is the most expensive according to online retailers. If Amazon were to deploy mobile stores they could have mobile hubs where people could come to pick up their orders without waiting as long.