Is Amazon Trying to Turn Us All Into Drones?

Which is the essence of #thatamazonlife? The thrill of the chase for products while shopping on the site or the reassuringly steady stream of boxes arriving at your door?

Automating the Shopper
When examining some recent innovations from Amazon, it’s hard not to wonder whether the fulfillment logic has encroached on the shopping experience itself. Notably, Amazon Dash lets shoppers scan products in their homes, while branded “Dash” buttons allow one-touch reordering of specific products. The program also includes the “Dash Replenishment Service” (DRS) for manufacturers to build automated Amazon reordering into their products. Similarly, Amazon Mom lets shoppers subscribe for automatic reordering of diapers and other baby products. With these offerings, Amazon seems to be luring users away from getting lost on their website or app in favor of an experience that highlights its fulfillment prowess. Like its unpiloted drones that have captured our imagination, Amazon seems to want to automate you, the shopper, as well as the experience of ordering and shipping your products.