Just when retailers are making peace with e-commerce and embracing omnichannel retail, along comes Amazon.com to throw yet another salvo in the battle: its own smartphone that's designed to get users to buy more stuff on, you guessed it, Amazon.com.
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The Fire, Amazon's first smartphone, incorporates Firefly, a dedicated button that will identify web addresses, email addresses, bar codes, QR codes and even products from the camera – and then send to you to amazon.com to check the price if the company stocks it. Previous features such as Amazon Dash were similar but focused on groceries and home products, but Firefly extends recognition to even more products (100 million according to CEO Jeff Bezos). It also will give you information about the product, whether it's a cast in a video, the best food to pair with a wine, or more.
We've all seen shoppers take out their phones or tablets in stores to see if another retailer (including Amazon) has a better price. And we've all seen shoppers get frustrated when they make typing and spelling errors as they do so (not that I'd know from personal experience or anything). By saving the typing, Firefly could take showrooming to a new level, particularly for a generation where saving keystrokes is something of a game. Fortunately for retail CIOs and their staffs, outside developers will be able to access Firefly – the apps StubHub, MyFitnessPal and Vivino have already done so.
The Fire will only be available to AT&T Wireless users for now (just as the iPhone was at its introduction). Now it's up to brick-and-mortar retailers to figure out how to get in on the action. Get cracking, techies!
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