With Amazon’s 2020 revenue of nearly $400 billion , it is evident that the company has grown from its humble origins into an e-commerce giant. With visionary leaders like the company founder Jeff Bezos and the newly issued CEO Andy Jassy, it can clearly be understood why this company is one of the most valuable in the world. It will definitely be exciting to see what the new advances the tech giant will achieve in the coming years, and in this article, we will try to find the most game-changing and popular additions that Amazon might release or improve in these next few years. Here is a list of crucial advancements that the company is showing or has publicly announced it is doing:
- Cashier-Free Stores:
- On January 2018, Amazon opened its first cashier-less convenience store named Amazon Go in Seattle. Now with 28 stores worldwide, Amazon has since opened 11 stores using the same technology under its Amazon Fresh brand.
- The technologies and procedures used in these stores could potentially revolutionize shopping as we know it:
- Most of these stores have adopted a “Just Walk Out” procedure which means that a shopper doesn’t need to converse with a cashier and can instead just pick request items and leave. This procedure can be performed as Amazon Go and Fresh Stores are fitted with weight sensors and cameras, so shoppers can add items to their virtual cart in the Amazon app by just picking them off of shelves. This “Just Walk Out” technology will eventually be available for other retailers to buy. This means that in the future, we might not see only Amazon apply this approach, but other major supermarkets as well!
- Another neat technology that Amazon is pushing is the new biometric payment method for its Amazon Go Stores. Started in September 2020, Amazon is using the biometric payment method to take a scan of each customer’s palm, which in turn will be linked to their credit or debt card. Because of the intricacy and diversity of the vein patterns that will be catalogued, biometric payment is essentially forgery proof, making it more safer than cards or cash. Once registered, shoppers can pay for items just using their physical hand by hovering it over a scanner for a second or two before the payment is complete (just like a contactless card such as Apple pay).
- Home Robots powerd by AI:
- In April 2018, Bloomberg had revealed that Amazon was working on a next-generation smart robot for that home that will be powered by artificial intelligence (AI). Called Vesta, the robot is intended to make life around the house easier by doing cleaning and other chores. The Robot is being developed by Amazon’s Lab126 hardware and research division. The Lab has been working on the project for a multitude of years, and is making finishing progress with Vesta robots being deployed to homes of certain employees of the lab for testing.
- Game Streaming Services:
- While Amazon has meddled in multiple industries in these past years, the company is also attempting to make advances in the gaming industry. Amazon launched Luna, a cloud based gaming service that allows users to play on streaming devices without having to download or install games beforehand. Luna will work on any Bluetooth controller, but Amazon also published its own Luna version of a controller which will connect directly to the cloud service. The games players can access depends on the type of channel they are subscribed to, with the base channel costing $5.99 a month. There is no fixed release date, but you can request early access.
- Fleets of Delivery Drones:
- Since December 2013, Amazon has mentioned that it plans to focus on a drone delivery service. Amazon is now well onto its way of publishing its service for all users, which can deliver packages weighing up to 5 pounds within just 30 minutes.
Conclusion
While we have listed a few products that Amazon plans to make in the future, the company certainly might be working on other unknown services as well! It will definitely be interesting to see how the company progresses in the future.
