Don’t Wait For a Hail Mary to Beat Amazon – Master the Grocer’s 2-Hour Drill
If you tuned in to watch last week’s NFC and AFC’s conference finals TV broadcasts, you couldn’t help but notice Amazon’s free 2-hour grocery delivery commercial running during one of the most watched football games of the year. All eyes are on grandma as her cake is merely seconds away from flying into her face, while Fred Astaire’s 1936 classic ‘Let’s Face the Music and Dance’ is playing in the background; which is well suited in foreshadowing the aftermath. But not to worry, as implied by the commercial, everything is going to be alright when Amazon knocks on your door with free 2 hour grocery delivery. It was certainly effective in drawing attention and sparked the grocery delivery conversation.
But those heavily involved in the grocery industry, couldn’t help but notice an alternate meaning. Whether or not it was intended, the musical choice was ironic in that there is indeed ‘trouble ahead’ as the song’s lyrics suggest. But more so for Amazon’s grocery competitors than the family depicted. While only available in select markets, Amazon has entered a new phase in the evolution of its grocery business. It’s the phase of making grocery delivery mainstream, getting every one of the 100 million prime members comfortable with using prime for grocery delivery, and eating up market share at an unimaginable rate. Why else would they aggressively promote free 2 hour delivery, in some of the most costly commercial slots known to television?
This move by Amazon undoubtedly spells ‘Trouble ahead’ for grocers. Those who fail to take the necessary steps will surely need to “face the music and dance” …
No one wants to see Amazon devour the Grocery industry, no one wants to see a relapse of what Amazon did to retailers. But what do grocers do? Let’s go back to what brought us to this conversation to begin with – Football.
You can see Amazon as the opposing team in a football game; a team that has the advantage in all aspects, better coaches, more funding, more attention. Given these qualities, Amazon also has the critical point of the game drilled down to a science. The point referred to in football as the 2 minute drill.
For those of you who know a thing or two about Football this is obvious: a two-minute drill is often executed towards the end of a half or the game, and designed to achieve maximum efficiency out of the offense to score in a short period of time. The quarterback is calling the plays, everyone on the team knows where they are supposed to be on the field. There are no stops for discussions, no time to ask the sideline for suggestions. It is all about execution, precision and getting it done!
Grocery delivery is complicated. It involves multiple stakeholders working in tandem to provide the customer a great experience on tight deadlines. Doing it within two hours requires the highest degree of operation. Picking, packing, planning and actually delivering within 120 minutes from purchase is a process that cannot be done manually. It is all about execution, precision, technology and automation. Sound familiar?
It’s the 2 hour drill that will give grocers a shot at taking a chunk of the glory from Amazon, it’s a demonstration of the final play that gives grocers a shot at proving that they too are just as capable.
But how do grocers match delivery processes and infrastructure of an entity that is quite literally backed by billions? Luckily for grocers, they live in a time where there are companies who are dedicated to replicating those processes and that very infrastructure. Companies like Bringoz exist for the very purpose of helping grocers achieve that 2 hour delivery window, and take a chunk of that glory that Amazon is spending millions to create.
