Amazon to open its first bar
Source: http://www.drinksbulletin.com.au
by: Naomi Kaplan
October 09, 2017
Amazon is opening a pop-up bar in Tokyo to promote alcohol sales on its site.
While the company has opened physical bookstores, bought Whole Foods and is testing a food market without cash registers at its Seattle headquarters, this is the first time the e-commerce giant will operate an actual bar.
“Amazon’s move into physical retail should not be a surprise to anyone,” Brendan Witcher, principal analyst at research firm Forrester, told CNN. “Even though many consumers do research online, the vast majority of retail still happens in physical locations. Amazon wants a piece of that pie.”
The bar will be open for 10 days from October 20 in Ginza, Tokyo’s high fashion centre, to promote alcoholic products sold on Amazon in Japan.
It’s not the first time Amazon has dabbled with experimental booze experiences in Japan – in 2016, it launched a free sommelier service for customers having trouble choosing which wine to buy.
“Amazon Bar will offer a wide variety of drinks procured from across the globe, and offer exclusive products as well as samples of products not yet on store shelves,” the company said in a statement.
Instead of a menu, Amazon’s 78-seat bar will feature an ordering system that will suggest drinks, and also hire sommeliers to dispense wine advice.
“[Customers] will also be able to participate in limited events specially designed for the occasion, as well as the characteristic order system that will help them explore new options in drinks,” an Amazon Japan spokesperson told Retail Dive.
Famous Nikka whisky, Yebisu beer and other drinks such as sake, wine and cocktails will cost 500 to 1,500 yen (between $4.43-$13.30), and some food will be offered to compliment the drinks.
Amazon’s threat to Australia
Amazon is preparing to launch in Australia, having officially leased its first Australian fulfillment centre in Melbourne. With its fast-paced delivery and cheaper prices, there’s inevitable speculation the company will be able to trump physical alcohol outlets.
Managing director and head of consumer sector research at Citi, Craig Woolford said Australian retailers need to be better prepared.
“It’s hard to say that retailers in Australia are really ready for Amazon,” he told the ABC.
“Amazon has disrupted a number of markets and in each case overseas we’ve seen retailer profitability and sales shift to Amazon.”
Additionally, new research by Roy Morgan has revealed the loss of the high-value young grocery shopper is the biggest risk facing Coles and Woolworths when Amazon disrupts the Australian grocery market.
Roy Morgan’s Supermarket Survival Survey targeted 20,000 Australians and found 73% of the highest value younger consumers – known as NEO-Millennials – already shop online. They and their equivalents in Gen X are described as “fertile feeding ground for Amazon in Australia.”
Virtual stores moving fast globally
Amazon has recently added beer and wine delivery through its Prime Now service to more markets this year, including Cincinnati and Columbus in Ohio, after first testing alcohol delivery in Seattle two years ago.
These delivery efforts are a way to capitalize on the rapidly growing alcohol delivery space, which Ibisworld estimates will reach $1.4 billion by 2020.
Similarly, UK’s Tesco is now experimenting with meal kits and checkout-free stores.
The CEO of Tesco, Dave Lewis, insists the supermarket can be as innovative as the likes of HelloFresh and Amazon to meet new consumer demands and shifts in technology.
“There are a number of trials in our stores [sic] so we can change our offer if ultimately that’s how customers want us to operate,” Lewis told Business Insider.
Moreover the company has achieved success with regards to its new one-hour delivery service.