Editor’s Note: Looking to bring a younger perspective to the mobile space, RCR Wireless News has tapped Jeff Hawn to provide insight into what’s on the minds of the tech-savvy youth of today.
Amazon.com, a company that has arguably become the biggest disruption to how the business of global logistics is managed since the construction of the transcontinental railroad, will soon be attempting to raise the bar even higher. On Dec. 18 Amazon Prime members in Manhattan got the option for one-hour delivery of select items. Although the one-hour delivery option is very limited in geographic and demographic scope, I would argue that this program, which Amazon has already pledged to expand to other cities, is set to become the norm for Internet commerce.
The signs are all there if you care to read them. Amazon has recently invested in massive upgrades to its infrastructure by putting cutting-edge robots in its warehouses to speed selection of products for delivery. It has also invested heavily in the construction of more warehouses to narrow the geographic scope of delivery, cutting down on transit time. Finally, Amazon has of late been heavily investing in two cutting-edge pieces of advance technology; it’s often belittled Fire phone, which critics have written off as a window-shopping experience for the much larger Amazon store; and the Amazon delivery drone, which will some day soon remotely deliver parcels right to your doorstep.
Jeff Bezos is frequently criticized by pundits and shareholders alike for reinvesting too much revenue back into Amazon. They had best quit their criticism if they know what is good for their pocketbooks. Bezos isn’t building the Wal-Mart of the e-commerce era where everything is available at a substantial discount. He’s building the Standard Oil of the future; an apex predator so far above the competition the competition doesn’t exist.
Generation wireless: instant gratification required
One-hour delivery is the natural evolution of delivery services in an economy dominated by customers who demand instant gratification. Moreover, a sleek automated delivery system is the most practical way to make that a reality. Not just for the people of large urban centers, but nationwide. Imagine being a company able to deliver any product to any customer anywhere in the United States, and eventually the world. Now imagine the value of that company.
The Fire phone may have been a flop when compared to the iPhone, but it proved the concept of being able to synch real-world items with the Amazon store. Drones may be years from practical use, but Amazon has a jump on everyone else in figuring out how to use them. The one-hour delivery may currently be a novelty, but it provides a way to test the concept in a practical manner then introduce it in incremental steps.
It is clear to me that while Apple, Facebook, AT&T, Verizon and Google fight over quarterly earnings and cater to the short-term desires of shareholders, Amazon is laying the foundation to be the company of the next decade and possibly the rest of the century. Bezos may some day find his name in the history books next to John D. Rockefeller and Cornelius Vanderbilt as not just one of America’s richest men, but as an industrialist who changed the world to such a magnitude that his legacy will outlive his wealth.
Jeff Hawn was born in 1991 and represents the “millennial generation,” the people who have spent their entire lives wired and wireless. His adult life has revolved around cellphones, the Internet, video chat and Google. Hawn has a degree in international relations from American University, and has lived and traveled extensively throughout Europe and Russia. He represents the most valuable, but most discerning, market for wireless companies: the people who have never lived without their products, but are fickle and flighty in their loyalty to one company or product. He’ll be sharing his views – and to a certain extent the views of his generation – with RCR Wireless News readers, hoping to bridge the generational divide and let the decision makers know what’s on the mind of this demographic.
