Last week in my weekly 'Pattern Recognition' column, I looked at the disruptive potential that same-day delivery will bring once Amazon launches it, as is widely-rumored.
Add to the mix their Subscribe & Save service, which I stumbled upon when ordering a case of protein drinks earlier today.
Once again, this underscores the 'gateaway drug' nature of Amazon Prime.
First, it removes a perceived friction of ordering online - namely delivery cost and delay - by bundling free two-day delivery with orders of any size (on applicable products).
Now, with Subscribe & Save, I can pick off a category of products (bulk size orders) that heretofore were in the domain of Costco.
Side thought: What if Amazon built user-facing analytics me around these products (or enabled third-parties to do so)? Then, their lock in potential for getting consumers to single-source becomes really huge.
Related:
- Pattern Recognition: Amazon the Assassin; Late Bloomers; Dream Team Disssage
- Amazon's 'Prime' challenger to the iPad (O'Reilly Radar)
- Existential Threats: Google v. Apple v. Amazon - who fares best?
