In case you hadn't noticed, Amazon (AMZN) -) is in the business of figuring out what you need and want before you do.
If you're one of the 200 million Prime members and recently have made a couple purchases on the platform, navigate to the homepage. Chances are Amazon is not-so-subtly promoting related products that you'd been meaning to add to your cart for a while now.
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And it doesn't end there. The e-commerce giant is constantly working out products and partnerships that might better serve you before you even identify the gap yourself.
Take, for example, its beloved Kindle e-reader, of which it has sold somewhere between 20 million and 90 million units.
If you have a Kindle, you probably didn't even know you'd been missing it before purchase. Now, though, you probably don't know how you'd travel without the glareproof, waterproof tablet barely larger than a postcard that stores thousands of books for instant access. And if you don't have the Kindle and decide to give it a try, you'll probably wonder where it had been all your life.
Same goes for Amazon's voice assistant Alexa (how did we check the weather before she showed up?), smart bulbs, smart plugs and just about everything else that cuts chores out of the life equation.
And now Amazon seems to be working on cutting, or at least easing, one of the biggest chores from our lives.
Amazon works out a major new partnership
Amazon said on Nov. 16 that it would partner with the South Korean carmaker Hyundai. (HYMTF) -)
The partnership, which commences in 2024, will enable Hyundai to sell vehicles via its U.S. store. In return, Hyundai will stock Amazon's Alexa assistants in its available cars and use Amazon Web Services as its cloud provider.
Hyundai, for its part, hopes the new partnership will pave an easier road for car buyers.
“They [customers] see how easy it is to buy all the products on Amazon and they want that convenience when buying a car,” Hyundai's global chief operating officer, José Muñoz, said in a statement.
"Hyundai is a very innovative company that shares Amazon’s passion for trying to make customers’ lives better and easier every day,” Amazon Chief Executive Andy Jassy said.
“Our broad, strategic partnership should do just that, from changing the ease with which customers can buy vehicles online to making it simple to use Alexa in Hyundai vehicles for entertainment, shopping, smart home adjustments, and calendar checks to enabling Hyundai to transform their customer experiences and business operations by moving to AWS. We look forward to inventing together for many years.”
While Hyundai will be the first car available, Amazon has struck a deal with dealers to sell other brands via its digital storefront. Customers can search for make, model, year, and other factors, qualify for financing, and secure their payment all within the Amazon interface.
“This new shopping experience will create another way for dealers to build awareness of their selection and offer convenience to their customers,” Amazon says, hoping the new capability will attract local dealers and other vendors eager to offload inventory.
In other words, the whole car buying process should be about to get a lot easier.
“You’ll be able to compare available selection at local dealerships and see transparent pricing,” Amazon VP Marty Mallick said.
The first Hyundai models using Amazon’s Alexa should be available by 2025.
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