Let's all just sit back as Amazon takes over the world.
It started small, sure. A place with cheaper books than bookstores slowly grew into the behemoth online marketplace it is today. It knew its customers better than any mom and pop shop: mastering data collection, mining product reviews and ratings to analyze what the world wanted and how they wanted to buy it.
First an e-reader, the Kindle, selling out five hours after it was launched. Then Amazon Prime, the frontrunner of loyalty programs and shipping ease. Then they added movies and television shows available to stream, and then grcerieos and now drones. What? Drones?!
They're slowly creeping into every market, and they're dominating. We wouldn't be surprised if Amazon added a travel component in the next few years. There's even been rumor that they're working on a credit card reader similar to Square, released as soon as August 13th.
But yesterday, Amazon opened a storefront of a brand new kind.
You want a bobble head that looks like you?
You want a model of a caffeine molecule?
A bracelet with your name on it in Braille?
A crazy lamp?
Then Amazon's Creative Expressions is the place for you. A new marketplace of three-dimensional products offers dozens of customizable goods, made to order.
They're upping the ante on products on demand. With the freedom of 3-D printing, there's theoretically no end to what Amazon could sell. From a business perspective, it's a genius move. No storage of goods, customers pay up front and then the product is made. From a customer perspective, it's also great– the largest online retailer in the U.S. opens the doors to customizable 3D printing, which might mean complete customization in the future. Upload a file, Amazon prints it. With the type of power they have, any moves towards new storefronts and product offerings prompt competitors to do the same.
We could all be living in a 3D printed world soon. What do you think?