There’s no shortage of weird patents coming from the Amazon camp. Since 1994, the ecommerce behemoth has made of point of doing everything differently. So far, it’s paid off, but they’ve sure left a string of headscratchers in their wake. Let’s take a look at some of the craziest.
The Latest Madcap Adventure
Underwater warehouses. Yep, you read that correctly. Amazon wants to go 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and store their inventory. The idea is that soundwaves from a buoy above would bring the necessary packages to the surface.
Obviously, this is in response to the company’s growing need for space. As they enter various markets—ahem, grocery and on-demand delivery—the sheer amount of room they need for their inventory only gets larger. Why not turn to that vast ocean right off the coast of Seattle to handle their needs.
Drone Delivery
The drone delivery system has been old news for a while, but the company got people fired up about it once more when they won a patent for the actual delivery system. The address label, which in true steampunk fashion would become a parachute upon reaching its destination, brought back the possibility of Prime Air.
The drone network would give Amazon the ability to deliver packages within thirty minute of order, which would drastically undercut its own Amazon Prime Now’s two-hour delivery window. Though they still have a way to go—there are those pesky FAA rules, after all—each patent awarded gets Amazon one step closer to eliminating friction in purchasing altogether.
And Speaking of FAA Rules…
The only way to cut down drone delivery time to a desirable half an hour is to create a restocking center in the air, right? That’s what their patent for an enormous blimp seems to say, anyway.
The floating fulfillment center would camp out about 45,000 feet in the air, hanging around for drones to stop in and pick up deliveries. The patent was awarded in December of 2016, but as with the drone parachutes, it’s not much good until Amazon can figure out how to circumvent the air traffic laws.
Underground Delivery System
Every page we turn to in the Amazon innovation book contains some incredible vision for the future. Not the least of which is their underground delivery system, a patented proposal of tunnels filled with conveyor belts and tubes.
The most basic imagining of this delivery subway system is a route from airports to the fulfillment center, but a more sophisticated plan includes direct delivery to individual homes. The good news is that their system would bypass congested roads—and also wouldn’t need approval from the FAA. The bad news is that digging tunnels takes a lot of time and money. A prohibitive amount of both, actually.
What Do Customers Want?
Someone at Amazon has a staggering amount of imagination. The ideas Amazon generate no doubt elevated this enterprise into a global phenomenon. Obviously, their plans work.
However, after taking a look at some of the stranger and more science-fiction-type innovations coming from Amazon today, can we say for sure they know what the customer wants? Sure, reading blogs and news articles about drones gets buyers more than a little excited, but have they really thought through their innovation strategy?
As cool as buyers might think a hovering blimp might be, does it adequately solve their problems? Is there an easier, less expensive way to solve for the buyer’s needs without butting heads with the FAA?
These are questions we would address as innovation consultants. Yes, you want to get out there with the biggest, most newsworthy ideas. But what you want more—what every company should want more—is to solve your buyers’ pain points. If that’s your aim, give us a call. We can help.
