By
Godfrey Benjamin
November 30th, 2023
Amazon plans to roll out smart shopping carts by the end of the year, an innovation that is on track to stir growth. Meanwhile, AMZN stock hit a new high but closed with a 3% loss yesterday.
The fear of the coronavirus pandemic which has refused to fizzle out keeps driving a high level of demand in retail and groceries. This has helped bolstered Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) stock which has gained about 79% this year and since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. The stellar performance of Amazon (AMZN) stock has stirred several analysts like Cowen analyst John Blackledge, who revised his price target for the stock from $2,750 to $3,100, a new wall street high as reported by IBD Digital.
In a note to clients, Blackledge believes that the coronavirus cases based on a Cowen survey “has driven meaningful increases in consumers’ online purchasing habits, likely due to a combination of store closures and personal social distancing efforts, and that dynamic has remained robust over the past few weeks”.
Amazon stock climbed 2.2% in morning trading to a new high of around $3,300. But as markets retreated during the afternoon, AMZN fell 3%, closing at $3,104 on Monday. There are hopes of a massive bullish run as the company has a number of innovations that will drive growth.
Amazon’s Innovations Contribute to AMZN Stock Growth
The place of new innovation in a company’s growth cannot be overemphasized. Amazon is boosting its retail outlets with the launch of smart carts (dash carts) that can enhance customers’ shopping experiences. The smart carts that will first be in use at Amazon’s grocery store in Woodland Hills, California, are embedded with cameras, sensors, and a smart display that automatically tracks a shopper’s order, thus eliminating the need to stay in a queue after shopping.
As detailed by CNBC, each of the carts is equipped with cameras that use computer vision to identify items as they’re placed in bags inside it, and a built-in scale to weigh them if necessary. For items like fresh produce, shoppers type in the item’s four-digit code and quantity on the display, which registers the weight and price. The cart also has a coupon scanner that applies any rebates to the shopper’s order. It is designed for small-to mid-sized grocery trips, where shoppers might leave the store with one or two bags of items.
Amazon (AMZN) became a leader in the e-commerce space as a result of its exclusive innovations and unique product offerings aimed at rebranding its service delivery to customers. The company has Amazon Prime which played a pivotal role in serving its over 112 million subscribers in the United States during the pandemic. AMZN stock is on track to meet price targets in the wake of the plans it has in place.