Jeff Bezos Wants “Short-Term” Philanthropic Ideas

Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, is one of the world’s wealthiest people. With a net worth of approximately $84 billion, Jeff Bezos is certainly a man with a lot of money to give. And, although he has given a fair amount of money to charitable causes, he still feels that he could do more. That is why, just recently, he took to social media in an attempt to crowdsource a solution to his philanthropic problem.

Last week, Jeff Bezos published a tweet asking all of his 200,000+ followers for advice and strategies on how to concentrate his philanthropic efforts so that they may have an immediate, or “short-term,” impact. He mentioned that he believes that he has invested in philanthropic endeavors through his multiple companies, Amazon, Blue Origin and The Washington Post, which contribute to society in “their own ways.”

But Bezos, who has been scolded in the past by news outlets for not being as philanthropic as Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg or Warren Buffett, is looking to invest in opportunities that will improve the lives of others instantly. His request for suggestions on Twitter earned more than 40 thousand responses. Suggestions ranged everywhere from donating to libraries to funding wildlife preservation. Bezos’ request was so popular that he was able to gain the attention of celebrities. World-famous singer Madonna had replied to Bezos by asking that they both take a trip to Detroit, her home city, and fund various projects and institutions there in order to improve the hurting city.

I feel that we need to take a step back and truly appreciate what is happening here. We live in a day and age where one of the world’s richest and most hard-to-access people is asking hundreds of thousands of strangers for advice on how to better our world. And through the power of social media, average, everyday citizens can respond to him. This would not have been possible 15 years ago. While many have condemned social media for creating a generation of narcissistic, uninterested and unmotivated teens, we sometimes fail to remember how much good it can bring.

Whether or not Bezos actually takes any of the suggestions and moves forward with them remains to be seen, but the fact that this is even possible is worth more than some of us realize. Instead of complaining about the negatives of the age in which we live, let us practice gratitude (see my earlier post on this topic) and appreciate the advances that come with time.

Amazon Go: The Future of Retail?

Amazon Go: The Future of Retail?

There was a time when Amazon was simply an online book store. However, as the years passed, the online retailer grew and broadened its horizons and eventually started selling a plethora of items beyond books. Then Amazon took an interest in technology, and it began to produce electronic devices: Amazon Kindle e-readers, Amazon FireTV portable digital media players, and even a failed smartphone. Currently, Amazon is the fourth most valuable public company in the world.

You may be thinking to yourself that Amazon has clearly come a long way from its humble beginnings, and that it has found its niche, and will stick to it, right? Wrong!

The company is notorious for pushing ahead with innovative ideas, and their latest one is certainly shaping up to be a game-changer. Amazon’s latest venture is called Amazon Go. The premise is simple, but the complexity behind it is astounding.

Have you ever had to wait in a terribly long line at the grocery store behind customers with tons of items when you only have a few? The process of grocery shopping can be irritating. This is exactly the problem that Amazon Go is looking to solve. With Amazon Go, customers can simply walk into the store, grab whatever items they desire, and walk out.

According to Amazon Go’s website, the store offers a bevy of food choices. Customers can stop in for ready-to-eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, which are prepared by the on-site staff of chefs. The store also seems to be blending the best of both local groceries and big-budget franchises by including brand name items like milk and bread, with smaller, locally produced items like sweets and cheeses.The store will even offer what are called “Amazon Meal Kits,” which include the necessary ingredients for a meal for two.

Sounds too good to be true? There is more to it, but that is the basic gist.

But how does it truly work?

That’s where the beauty of technology comes into play. Essentially, customers must have an Amazon account and the Amazon Go application on their smartphone in order to enter the store. Once inside the store, customers pick up whatever items they want from the shelves. Stock counts are kept entirely electronically. The store uses a mix of computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning in order to keep track of how many items are on the shelf. This same technology also learns who is grabbing which item, and once the customer leaves the store, their Amazon account is charged accordingly.

"The store uses a mix of computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning in order to keep track of how many items are on the shelf. "

It sounds simple enough, but in reality, it raises some questions.

Firstly, how reliable is this technology? One of the greatest concerns over this entire project is billing; more specifically, the accuracy of billing. For example, if two customers come in to purchase the same item, taking the item off of the shelf in rapid succession, is the technology embedded in the shelves smart and fast enough to differentiate between those two customers? Or will it simply charge one customer twice? Obviously, these are situations that Amazon has thought of, and is hopefully working to ensure won’t happen.

Secondly, and much more importantly, what are the economic ramifications of a store like Amazon Go? The entire idea behind the store is to eliminate the human element of cashiers. Customers can simply walk in, take their items, and leave without the hassle of waiting for cashiers to ring customers out. Those cashier positions are important for millions of American citizens to make ends meet.

Could an influx of Amazon Go stores hurt the economy by cutting jobs?

Currently, Amazon is planning for one single opening in Washington, just to demonstrate the technology as a prototype. If Amazon Go is successful, and the company decides to go nationwide with its stores, many other retailers could follow suit. Obviously a major incentive behind this concept is not only to create a quick and painless user experience, but also to save money on labor for retailers. If other retail juggernauts, like Walmart or Target, do establish their own version of Amazon Go, it could decimate cashier jobs nationwide.

One could make the argument that, even with all of the store’s cutting-edge technology, it will still rely on human beings to restock its shelves, and this will create more jobs, but that seems doubtful. Retail stores only require a nominal number of employees to restock shelves, so it seems unlikely that they will hire additional employees for that purpose.

For those who think this couldn’t possibly be a viable form of retail, industry experts believe that the store has potential to take over. In an article from GeekWire, CEO of Clarus Commerce, Tom Caporaso, gave his thoughts on the store, stating, “If [Amazon Go] can be achieved in some form or fashion, a ‘Just Walk Out’ retail environment would offer consumers a better shopping experience, with greater speed and convenience, which is sure to build loyalty, which is every retailer’s goal.”

Customers are always looking for new ways to do their shopping as effortlessly as possible. That’s what made online shopping so popular in the first place. But can Amazon, one of the world’s largest online retailers, make the brick-and-mortar store as convenient as e-commerce? We’re probably more than a few years off from a completely cashier-less shopping experience, but Amazon Go is certainly paving the way.
The first Amazon Go store is set to open sometime later this year. Once the store opens, I will keep you posted on any further developments.