Since the beginning of 2024, there have been a series of announcements of the end of services related to domestic and international e-commerce sites.
Amazon has announced a significant reduction in the number of stores that have adopted the "Just Walk Out" service, which it had been widely promoting, in order to discontinue it.
"Just Walk Out" is a payment technology for cashierless stores that Amazon developed and promoted. It uses cameras and sensors installed in the store to recognize the movements of customers and the products they have picked up, and customers simply leave the store and receive a bill later to pay.
It has been introduced in some of Amazon's cashierless convenience stores "Amazon Go" and grocery stores "Amazon Fresh", and has also been sold to other companies. According to an Amazon press release, the company plans to introduce the smart shopping cart "Dash Cart" in conjunction with the significant reduction of "Just Walk Out".
However, "Just Walk Out" will not be completely discontinued, and it will continue to be used in convenience stores such as "Amazon Go", which are smaller than supermarkets, as well as in sports stadiums and university kiosks.
Some analysts point out that the decision to discontinue "Just Walk Out" was influenced by the fact that it was revealed that the service was ultimately deployed manually, with staff checking video footage rather than just using image recognition technology, and that roughly 1,000 people from India were checking payments. These issues surrounding cashierless stores have come to light, and that this was also a factor in the decision to significantly scale them down.
While there are calls these days for companies to promote digital transformation both domestically and internationally, it is important to remember that even global company Amazon has had failures like "Just Walk Out" in the implementation process.
Meanwhile, it has been announced that the online shopping mall "Ponpare Mall" operated by Recruit in Japan will also close on June 30, 2024. Recruit points earned at Ponpare Mall will be available for use on Amazon from March 2024.
Ponpare Mall, which launched in March 2013, was an EC site where users could earn Recruit Points, Ponta Points, and d Points, and handled a wide range of products, mainly fashion, furniture, and toys. According to Recruit's press release announcing the end of the service, the main reason for the end of the service was "a comprehensive decision based on the changes in the environment over the past few years and the usage status of Ponpare Mall's services."
It is not difficult to imagine that since the launch of Ponpare Mall, competition among EC sites has become fierce, there is no prospect of an increase in users, and sales have been on a downward trend. In other words, simply put, it was defeated by other EC sites. Another factor is that the days when users and sellers could no longer stick to one EC site are over.
The closure of Ponpare Mall, a long-standing domestic EC site, suggests that companies that handle Internet shopping need to keep up with the trends of the Internet shopping era.
On September 27, 2023, the search portal site "goo" will end its services for "goo Maps," "goo Weather," and "goo Cars & Bikes." The reason for the end of the services has not been disclosed, but it is believed that the purpose is to select and concentrate on the content of the services. In reality, however, as with Recruit's Ponpare Mall, it is likely the result of sluggish growth in users and usage due to similar services offered by competitors such as Google.
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