Amazon is opening its doors wide to Prime customers in search of faster shipping in an effort to eat up more of the traditional retail market. According to a report from Recode, the e-commerce giant has removed restrictions on its products that forbade customers from utilizing one-day shipping on items less than $5. Prime customers will be now able to select one-day shipping on products that cost as little as $1, making routine trips to convenience stores that much less convenient. While Amazon has long-sold products like deodorant, dental floss, and other household items on its platform, the restriction on price meant its users were usually required to buy those items in a larger set or tack them onto orders with other items through the company's'add-on' program. Recode notes, however, that Amazon's'add-on' program has been slowly phased out in recent months, essentially paving the way for a new ere of single-use shopping. Now, with the restrictions lifted, customers will be able to not only buy those items individually, but have them delivered imminently to their doorstep.

No matter who you ask, the near-future of delivery seems to involve fleets of robots shuffling packages from stores, down sidewalks, and onto doorsteps. Robots will lug grocery bags from market to kitchen; they'll begin to replace humans delivering take-out and dropping off parcels. And soon, your Amazon Prime packages may show up courtesy of Scout, Amazon's new six-wheeled autonomous delivery robot built to withstand the sidewalk. Amazon announced on Wednesday that it will begin field testing Scout in Snohomish County, Washington, with Prime customers who request same-day, one-day, or two-day delivery. For now, Amazon says it will limit its testing to daylight hours during the week, when sidewalk traffic is lowest.

Amazon Prime is considered one of the most successful loyalty programs in retail history. While many believe the success of Amazon Prime revolves around free shipping, it is really the removal of friction and focus on experience that sets it apart. Banking can learn from Amazon Prime. There is no denying the explosive growth and competitive impact of Amazon to the retail industry. For their retail business, the foundation of this success is named Amazon Prime.

Amazon Prime is considered one of the most successful loyalty programs in retail history. While many believe the success of Amazon Prime revolves around free shipping, it is really the removal of friction and focus on experience that sets it apart. Banking can learn from Amazon Prime. There is no denying the explosive growth and competitive impact of Amazon to the retail industry. For their retail business, the foundation of this success is named Amazon Prime.

The little Echo Dot sitting calmly next to my bed never ceases to surprise the futurist in me. I use it for mundane daily tasks like setting alarms and not so mundane tasks like ten minute meditations and listening to the sounds of a babbling brook while easing in to a deep sleep. Its a very interesting product and I wanted to dig deeper and analyze its strategic value to Amazon and explore how transformative it could be to our daily lives. In this essay I hope to present my analysis with some facts, assumptions and hypotheses. To understand why Alexa is such a big deal its important for us to dive deep in to Amazon's core revenue drivers and its overall business model.