AMAZON: THE RE-INVENTION OF THE STORE IS THIS GROCERY’S NEXT FRONTIER?

Recent surveys show that by 2025 on-line grocery shopping will increase by another 25% of current totals. Recent survey from financial services firm Cowen & Co. found that 18% more people shopped for groceries and other consumable goods on Amazon in the first quarter of 2016 than did in the year-ago period

New technology allows customers with the Amazon app to simply enter the store, scan their smartphone, and take whatever they desire with no need to go through a checkout line or undertake a direct transaction.

The system leverages technologies used in self-driving cars, including computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning, according to Amazon's website.

The rumor is that Amazon plans to open 20 physical grocery stores in major U.S. cities over the next two years, and with ambitions to open as many as 2,000 over the next decade

Kroger is piloting a project called “digital shelf edge” that uses in-store sensors and analytics to provide product recommendations, custom pricing and other interactive elements through customers’ mobile devices.

Retailers should consider using include artificial intelligence, machine learning and wearable devices for virtual reality to craft shopping experiences like never before and make dramatic changes in the consumer experience.