• by Cory Treffiletti , Featured Contributor, March 15, 2017

Amazon is an amazing company.  It picks a category to disrupt, enter into it with verve and velocity and generate almost immediate traction.  Each time Amazon does this, it’s viewed as a surprise --  but I think people are starting to catch on and there are few surprises left (just kidding).  

Amazon started with books but quickly expanded inventory to include pretty much everything else a consumer wants to buy.  The company launched Amazon Prime and started getting into media, both audio and visual, and began developing original programming that competes with the likes of HBO and Netflix.  AWS offers every company a chance at scalable cloud infrastructure.  Ad agencies are starting to take note that Amazon has a massive amount of customer data that can be used to create more effective targeting and ad delivery off the Amazon platform in the same way they do on-platform and in the Amazon site.  Amazon’s primary model for message delivery is similar to the open Web version of “native.”  From what I can gather, it works very well!  

What’s next for Amazon?  

The sky is literally the limit at this point.  I wouldn’t be surprised if Amazon takes aim at cable operators and starts offering unbundled network packages or access to channels currently only available through your local operator.  Why not get ESPN and HGTV and History Channel with your Amazon Prime membership?  Why not expand even further and offer tax preparation services to customers of Amazon Prime at a heavily discounted price?  Why not book your housekeeper through Amazon Home Services?  

All these avenues offer customers even more convenience in exchange for Amazon knowing even more about you.  Its forays into the connected home with Alexa are likely just the first step.  That device is always on and recording constantly, so just imagine the possibilities if Amazon can connect all these insights together and offer you a truly targeted in-home A.I. experience,  a literal concierge for the home!

All of these ideas are simply my hypotheses on where Amazon can go.  I have no source of insight for these other than my point of view as someone who pays attention to these things.  

I should also disclose that I am someone who thinks the “one click to buy” button was possibly the greatest patent made since the beginning of the Internet.  

Amazon has a plan, and people who are far smarter than I are currently working to implement that plan.  The company has proven it knows how to speedily launch new categories and be successful.

Expanding from standard retail into all aspects of the customer’s day seems like a no-brainer to me.  Expansion into financial services and further into media and the home are all fairly high likelihood in my eyes.  It’s just one step toward the United States Of Amazon!

What I find curious is how someone like Google or Apple will respond.  I can foresee consolidation with other brands like Netflix or Tesla that offer a foothold in exciting areas of the consumer’s day as possible responses to the Amazon model for domination.  Tesla and other companies offer unique access to a state of the consumer that is not currently met by these Internet giants and there’s precedent for these types of moves.  When Google bought Nest most people thought that was strange at first, but in retrospect it made perfect sense.

What other areas do you think Amazon might jump into next?