The Future of Amazon: What Industry Will Amazon Disrupt Next?
Amazon isn’t the same online bookseller it was fifteen years ago. Today, Amazon has surpassed Walmart as the biggest U.S. retailer and become a fierce competitor in industries like consumer electronics, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and entertainment media.
The ecommerce supergiant has its fingers in so many industries that nobody can predict what they will step into next.
But it’s fun to try!
We polled people at Tinuiti’s AdDiego 2019 event for their votes on what industry Amazon would disrupt next. The answers were different, entertaining and surprisingly likely!
We’ve published the top-voted answers below:
Amazon-owned sports team
Why wouldn’t Amazon want to own a sports team? The sports industry as a whole is predicted to be worth $80.3 billion dollars in 2020. The L.A. Lakers alone are already worth $3.7 billion, which includes merchandise, brand licensing and, of course, ticket sales.
The industry is ripe for a new player to come in and shake things up. Amazon could buy up an arena and dress it up in its trademark black and yellow, with the Amazon Smile emblazoned on player jerseys. Preferential ticket prices to Prime Members, of course!
And yes, they will definitely name their team the “Primes.”
Online dating…Amazon-style
Online dating is a $3 billion dollar industry, and with key players like Tinder and Match.com showing their age (20 years in the latter’s case), the market is ripe for disruption.
Amazon’s dating service could leverage their mountain of shopper’s data to match people based on their buying habits. You don’t have to take Jerry at his word that he loves skiing just as much as you do. You can actually see whether or not he’s purchased skiing equipment! If not, he’s probably just lying to impress you!
The site could even use historical data to proactively match users based on their buying preferences, so you don’t need to do all of that fact-checking. You can even set filters to exclude undesirable matches, like say, ladies who spend more than $100 on makeup a month!
Amazon airlines
The airline industry has been in a steady decline for years, suffering lower profitability, equipment failures, higher customer expectations, and rising fuel costs. If there’s any industry that is ripe for disruption, it’s this one. And if there’s any company that can pull that disruption off, it’s Amazon.
Amazon is already leasing planes from other companies to operate Amazon Air, the carrier responsible for Amazon’s lightning-fast delivery times. Amazon could expand its fleet to include passenger airlines equipped with seat-mounted Amazon Fires.
They would already have the in-flight shopping experience ready to go, and the product could be made available for pickup when you land!
Medical care and services
Amazon has already expressed interest in expanding into healthcare insurance, so the next logical progression would be for them to offer medical services.
Amazon Care would be able to combine its extensive delivery and distribution network to supply customers with pharmaceuticals in the convenience of their own homes in a timely manner (1-day delivery!).
Visiting a new hospital or healthcare facility? Not a problem! Secure online medical data will mean you never have to fill out a medical form ever again! Just supply your Amazon Care ID and the doctor will have your complete medical history available on his tablet in a manner of seconds.
Auto sales
Shopping for cars is often painful and drawn-out, with sleazy salesmen trying to milk you for every penny and offers trim options you don’t want. Vague pricing and predatory interest rates make the process even more stressful.
Now imagine the ability to customize every detail of your new car from the comfort on your own home, complete with trim options, warranty packages, and financing rates. Then having your shiny new vehicle delivered to your home the very next day thanks to the Amazon Prime guarantee! Revolutionary, huh?
These ideas were all fun to discuss and vote on, and to be honest some of them aren’t too farfetched. I could easily see Amazon buying a sports team, for instance, and passenger flights are definitely something Amazon can test out given the resources available to them.
But whether or not Amazon will actually do it? Only time will tell!
Got a prediction to share? Add it in our comments below.
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