At least once a week, I find myself stuck in a grocery store line. I’ll get stuck behind someone who’s chatty with the cashier, or who has a book full of coupons, or who disputes every price that comes up on the scanner.
![The Real Opportunity Behind Amazon Stock’s 'No Wait' Grocery](https://investorplace.com/wp-content/plugins/lazy-load/images/1x1.trans.gif)
So sometimes I try my hand at one of those self-check kiosks … but that’s usually a mistake. I may be able to pick tech stock winners, but as my wife would be happy to tell you, I should be kept far away from just about all technological gadgetry, especially TV remotes.
Bumbling through a self-check kiosk in a grocery store isn’t that big a deal. My time isn’t that valuable.
But still, this checkout conundrum … it’s got to be solvable.
And maybe … just maybe … we got a peek at that solution earlier this week.
On Tuesday, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) opened its first supermarket-size Go Grocery in Seattle. At Go Grocery, shoppers can whip through the store aisles picking up their organic produce, gluten-free crackers, free-range eggs, or whatever – and then waltz right out the door with it without waiting in line or even pulling out their wallet.
Go Grocery automatically charges shoppers’ accounts through a smartphone app.
While the e-commerce giant has operated several Amazon Go convenience stores since 2018, this Seattle supermarket, at 10,400 square feet, is by far its largest effort. That’s thanks to advances in camera, sensor and scanner technology.
And we can expect things to get bigger from here. “We’ve learned a lot,” Amazon Go Vice President Dilip Kumar said earlier this week. “There’s no real upper bound. It could be five times as big. It could be 10 times as big.”
As someone who hates standing in line, this sounds great. And it should also be great for Amazon stock.
However, this innovation — as nearly all tech disruptions do – comes with a downside.
But also an opportunity.
In today’s report I’ll show you both.
Amazon Stock Showcases the Next Evolution in Shopping
Of course, Amazon isn’t the only company making big innovations in retail. It’s just the most noticeable.
One of the biggest trends in the world today is retail automation — the process of automating how products you buy online get to your front door. This is Amazon’s specialty, of course, but there are lots of other companies even more advanced than Amazon that are transforming retail. They use automated processes involving software, robotics and other technologies to get products delivered directly to your home, with very little human involvement.
And these companies are going to radically change the way we shop over the next few years.
I’ve been following Ocado Group (OTCMKTS:OCDGF) for a while. This U.K.-based company is a world leader in online-only grocery shopping.
No, not the “pay and pick up” program you see at Whole Foods, Target, and your local grocery store. This is something radically different.
Ocado has more than 60 technology patents already granted, has applied for 100 more patents last year, and has built the most advanced automated robotic shopping system on the planet.
The company’s robotic warehouses look nothing like anything you’ve ever seen.
And get this: This revolutionary tech company recently signed a deal with Kroger (NYSE:KR), the largest grocery store chain in both the United States and the world.
Over the next two to three years, Ocado and Kroger will revolutionize how groceries arrive at your doorstep. The first of their 20 new high-tech grocery delivery warehouses will open soon in Ohio, and they are working on other warehouses in Wisconsin, Florida, Georgia and Texas.
And they just announced plans to build one in Frederick, Maryland, not far from InvestorPlace headquarters, on the site of a shuttered Toys “R” Us distribution center.
Ocado already has more than 700,000 customers worldwide, and I project it will soon have 10, 20, or even 100 times that amount in the near future.
Hardly anyone knows about this company today … but in a few years, it will be a household name.
This disruptive technology company is just one of the many innovators that is going to contribute to the widening wealth gap in America.
Here’s what I mean…
More Money Concentrated in Fewer Hands
The top 1% of the U.S. population accrued 52% of the real income growth in America since 2009.
That’s because the acceleration of our technological progress allows companies to operate with just a fraction of the number of employees businesses used to require.
In other words, wealth is being concentrated into fewer and fewer hands.
Just consider these numbers…
- Back in 1964, AT&T (NYSE:T) employed more than 750,000 employees … but now Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) is a bigger and far richer company, with around 90% fewer employees sharing the wealth.
- Hilton Worldwide Holdings (NYSE:HLT) employs about 170,000 people, generating around $9 billion in revenue per year. That’s roughly $53,000 per employee. But tech upstart Airbnb generates five times more money per employee than Hilton.
- Back in 1989, Eastman Kodak (NYSE:KODK) had about 145,000 employees. Today, Snap (SNAP) employs around 3,000 people.
- Today, there are approximately 3.5 million truck drivers in America and millions more folks who drive cars for a living. But in the years to come, as self-driving technology advances, a whole lot of these people are going to lose their jobs.
- Kroger now employs more than 450,000 people at its nearly 3,000 supermarkets. Each Ocado-Kroger warehouse, which could eventually take the place of dozens if not hundreds of stores, will employ about 700 people.
You get the point.
The best new companies of today simply don’t need many people compared to companies from a decade or two ago — so the number of great jobs is decreasing while the pay for the employees who do get jobs is radically soaring! This is why the wealth gap gets wider and wider every single year.
And there’s nothing we can do to stop this trend.
It is inevitable.
But you can certainly make sure your money is positioned properly. I’ve just filmed a special presentation all about this phenomenon — and I’ve put the moves you need to make now in a series of brand-new special reports.
Just go here to check it out.
I’ll see you back here soon.
Regards,
Eric Fry
P.S. Tuesday night, the Democratic nominees for president had another debate… and it’s clear. Some Democrats believe Bernie Sanders is “too socialist” to defeat President Donald Trump. Some Democrats believe Pete Buttigieg is too inexperienced to be president. However, the media is totally missing what is by far a bigger election year story.
You see, an alarming new trend taking shape in America is making a lot of people really wealthy… and at the same time making others poorer. I believe this will be the No. 1 factor affecting your money over the next few years. If you haven’t seen this or heard about what’s happening in your hometown, I strongly encourage you
Eric Fry is an award-winning stock picker with numerous “10-bagger” calls — in good markets AND bad. How? By finding potent global megatrends … before they take off. And when it comes to bear markets, you’ll want to have his “blueprint” in hand before stocks go south. Eric does not own the aforementioned securities.