If you have followed this site at all, you know that I am a huge fan of Amazon. Their innovation, customer experience, and prices all make me a very happy customer. They are a prime (pun intended) example of what a good company looks like. But, while they might do a little bit of everything, there are some companies or industries that do it a little bit better. These are the areas that I hope Amazon directs their attention to and disrupts the industry, or just buys the players in the market.
So what are the industries that I want Amazon to disrupt next? They are the industries that we all have faced. The industries that make you lose years of your life because they are so slow, so much paperwork, or take so much time. They are the industries that charge way too much money for something, but we can do nothing about it.
Here are the 3 industries that I want Amazon to disrupt.
Transportation
How many of you have ever flown? I’m assuming that the majority of you all nodded your heads. I will also assume that your airport experience was not the smoothest. Chances are, you were stressed packing for the airport, making sure you have your passports, and trying to get your tickets printed before leaving the house. That is just the start of the chaos. Once you get to the airport, there are long lines, TSA backups, and no outlets or seats for your kids. The airport system is a complete mess and it needs changing.
This is where Amazon comes into play. Amazon sicks their customer experience dogs onto the industry, pulls best practices, and completely renovated the entire experience. Think of it, automated check-in with a scan of your phone, no lines for TSA, ample amount of seating, no delays guaranteed, and plenty of overhead storage for easy onboarding. While this may seem like a farsighted idea, keep in mind that they bought an entire fleet of boeing planes (granted, it is for delivering packages), but nothing is impossible, right?
Furniture
If you have ever bought furniture (mid to higher level furniture), you know that it can be a royal pain. As most would expect on a first time furniture shopping, you could walk into the store, buy a couch and get it delivered to your home in a couple of days. That is not the experience that I have had. Normally, it takes up to 6 weeks to deliver a piece of furniture. Why? Who knows. It takes such a long time and then when delivery comes, they will try and schedule a window of time with you.
Enter Amazon: they figure out how to streamline the process. By using your mobile app, you can using augmented reality to see the couch in the spot of your home that you want, and then you place the order. After placing the order, you get the furniture is 2 days and, the best part is that it is free. No more waiting. No more expensive shipping. No more let downs.
If Amazon really wanted to go above and beyond, they would connect the delivery with their home services. These are the services that allow you to book a plumber to come to your house and fix your leaky pipe, an interior designer to redesign your home, or a handyman to construct pieces of furniture that you might want built. So the customer experience gets even better. You can call an interior designer to look at your place, they help you choose the perfect piece, you order it with 2 day shipping, it arrives and a handyman comes and sets up the entire piece for you.
Does this seem far off? It might not be. It is rumored that Amazon and Ikea are in talks to partner together. Ikea, while not extremely high quality, provide a massive selection to choose from and the centers to store all the furniture. Amazon has the capability to ship their products and the services to help set it up.
Medical
The last industry is a bit more broad, but it would be interesting to see Amazon take them on. The medical field has raked their customers over the coals for far too long. The expenses of the medical field are outrageous. If you have ever been to the doctor for a simple checkup and needed to pay a large fee, you understand the pain here. But, let’s not stop at the medical industry (I’m assuming the regulations on all that would be insane). What if Amazon picked up Warby Parker and Hubble contacts? This could either be a partnership or a acquisition.
Both Warby Parker and Hubble have disrupted their respective industries already and it would be great to see them work with Amazon to get better selection (Hubble should get monthly subscription, rather than only day).
Overall, these industries are all slow and need a little pressure from the big Amazon to help them shake up the industry. Amazon is known for pushing the limits and the speed of innovation. The transportation, furniture, and medical industries all need some change and Amazon could easily be there to help them.
