Amazon and Fanatics play ‘anytime, anywhere, anyhow’ commerce on game day
Finding yet another delivery zone, Amazon has partnered with the San Francisco 49ers to deliver “tens of thousands” of items to tailgaters at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA.
The initiative started on Monday when the 49ers kicked off their season with a home game against the Los Angeles Rams.
Anything in the Amazon Prime Now store is available for delivery — including beer through a local liquor store, Sousa’s Wine & Liquor — in one hour or less to Prime Now tailgaters. One-hour delivery is $7.99 and two-hour is free.
Using the Prime Now App or PrimeNow.com, fans located in three parking areas where the vast majority of tailgating happens enter zip code “95054” and start shopping. At check-out, they enter the address of the stadium, the parking lot number and nearest parking flag number. Prime Now delivery personnel call at the time of delivery to confirm the location. An Amazon warehouse in nearby Sunnyvale supports the initiative.
“Why miss out on any tailgating fun when you can have all your game day essentials delivered to you directly in an hour or less,” said Stephenie Landry, worldwide vice president of Amazon Prime Now.
In a somewhat similar scheme further south, Fanatics.com, the e-tailer of fan merchandise, partnered with UberEATS to support fans of the LA Rams. From 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. pacific time on Monday (just before kickoff), fans could use the UberEATS app to order Rams gear and autographed collectibles along with tailgate-themed food “whenever and wherever they are around LA.”
The counties of Valley, Westside, Downtown, South Bay and Orange County were eligible for the promotion. Orders had an estimated delivery time of 30 to 40 minutes.
The Fanatics/Uber partnership celebrated the Rams first game as the LA Rams since the team moved to St. Louis in 1995.
Discussion Questions
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: What do the NFL fan initiatives by Amazon and Fanatics say about the potential for on-demand delivery and “anytime, anywhere, anyhow” commerce? Is there a big opportunity for online delivery beyond residences and work offices?
Poll
BrainTrust
Larry Negrich
Director, SaaS Marketing, Zebra Technologies
Chris Petersen, PhD.
President, Integrated Marketing Solutions
I like it! It’s not going to deliver a lot of revenue or likely be used by that many fans, but it’s really nice marketing and positioning. Tailgaters and those that hear the buzz will see a distinction between Amazon and all the rest. That’s where the value is.
First of all the Valley, Westside, Downtown and South Bay are not counties, they are part of LA County. Now on to the question at hand … anytime, anywhere delivery has become more than a gimmick. It’s an ongoing reality. As consumers become accustomed with being able to buy in an instant, they will come to expect such service from an ever-increasing number of merchants. Retailers that sell products that might be missed, but don’t offer delivery, may soon find sales lost to those that do.
This is a perfect use case for on-demand delivery. As an avid tailgater, typically if you have forgotten something you would settle for the loss or borrow items. Given folks get to games upwards of four hours beforehand, this service will allow tailgaters to fill not only their practical needs, but their serendipitous wants. Amazon will continue to take mindshare, and thus share of wallet.
If you look at all the particulars of the logistics that make this work, this a PR stunt … but a brilliant one illustrating capabilities and consumer value!
Very hard to scale this event without the immediate proximity of an Amazon distribution center. But what is really smart and enlightening about this pilot is the Amazon way of creating a ecosystem of local marketplace merchants to deliver things like food and beer. And given the ability to deliver to parking stall numbers, can drone delivery be far behind?
Amazon is more than a retailer … it is consumer-centric ecosystem backed by unparalleled logistics that create an experience like no other. What other retailer in the U.S. could begin to pull this off in a parking lot? And just imagine the tailgater experience of trying to out-do the guys next door with your next order.
Amazon is all about Prime … and this is a perfect way to promote and extend Amazon’s most important brand and differentiator!
Wherever there is a large, predictable gathering with similar short-term purchasing needs and longer-term group affiliation (football fans, concert fans, etc.) there exists a great opportunity for a prepared retailer. There is an unfilled void and large potential for specific item sales that is not served by stadium concession stands and t-shirt vendors. These are large enough events that they can be planned out well in advance by the retailer — this is smart retailing.
“Anytime, anywhere and anyhow” is the new frontier and it is here to stay and flourish because it’s what shoppers and consumers want — period. This same set of adverbs were used for years to describe the promise of digital signage. In that world these adverbs referred to rich media files — videos, graphics and audio. Today shoppers expect the same promise to be fulfilled only now it’s with purchased goods and services.
Where companies have the manpower to service those tailgaters it is a perfect opportunity to promote the brand. It’s like a pop-up store in reverse.
Innovative way to build brand ubiquity. Smart move by Amazon — even if it doesn’t drive spectacular sales results. I love the out-of-the-box thinking (I wish more were willing to step outside their comfort zones).
Love this. Once again, Amazon is creating über-convenience as only Amazon can do. This could be something that catches on in every city and for any type of big event (that has tailgating or other pre/post events).
Amazon is increasing the presence and importance of its brand through these real-time events. What might have been a “sponsorship” some years ago is now transformed into a sale and service event that enhances the fan experience.
Given the NFL control of the game experience on and off the field, I am interested to know if Amazon needed the league’s approval to hold this event.
This is a great idea with modest revenue potential for Amazon. Will it spread to other venues or remain only for marquis games in the biggest cities?
Amazon should look into a reseller model. Booster groups, philanthropies and other local organizations are a perfect marketing channel to build awareness and trial with their loyal members.
Local groups acquire customers, Amazon runs the operations — up to the last mile if needed. The convenience and novelty is so great that price markups for revenue share will not be an issue.
The same goes for UberEATS. Both Amazon and Uber can build buzz and trial while offloading marketing expense.
Leave it to Amazon and UberEATS to go where customers are … while they may not make a fortune, they will certainly gain visibility … and maybe a beer or two!
Traditionally the only game day delivery business around football is pizza. That model is proven in the mechanism and profitability. The trick is going to be availability, scalability and profitability.
Amazon once again proves to be a brilliant company … or is it that all the other usual suspects desperately lack ideas and a sense of innovation? If others wanted to create a similar tailgating offering, they would first need a 3rd party marketplace like Amazon to be able to do it in a way that maximizes buyers’ choice and experience.