亞馬遜公司和其他零售公司,，尤其是它的強(qiáng)有力的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手百思買之間的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)一直在進(jìn)行中。現(xiàn)在，新的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)領(lǐng)域出現(xiàn)了,。家用終端的安裝和服務(wù)市場(chǎng)是百思買及其旗下的極客品牌具有競(jìng)爭(zhēng)優(yōu)勢(shì)的領(lǐng)域，而亞馬遜公司似乎正在準(zhǔn)備對(duì)此發(fā)起沖擊,。

據(jù)報(bào)道,，亞馬遜公司目前為Alexa設(shè)備免費(fèi)提供咨詢服務(wù),，但安裝Alexa是要收費(fèi)的。亞馬遜官網(wǎng)上有“選擇城市”的下拉菜單,，如果它能在這些城市之外的地區(qū)也提供安裝服務(wù),，將具有十分明顯的優(yōu)勢(shì),。百思買在計(jì)算機(jī)領(lǐng)域占據(jù)了一席之地,，然而，未來(lái)是屬于人工智能和智能設(shè)備的,。因此,，亞馬遜的虛擬助手Alexa可以成為亞馬遜的“特洛伊木馬”，就像派送包裹一樣,，把亞馬遜送到客戶家里,。

亞馬遜將Alexa作為智能家居的中樞系統(tǒng)來(lái)宣傳推廣。公司不止讓Alexa為亞馬遜旗下的Echo等幾款產(chǎn)品提供智能支持,，還在推動(dòng)Alexa與第三方產(chǎn)品的連接使用，例如照明系統(tǒng)和電器,。亞馬遜深知，要想給客戶提供“終端到終端”的體驗(yàn),，不僅僅需要提供智能手機(jī),、電視或是其他具有Alexa系統(tǒng)的設(shè)備，還需要提供客戶僅憑己力而達(dá)不到的安裝服務(wù),。

如果亞馬遜與百思買旗下的極客品牌競(jìng)爭(zhēng)的話，會(huì)在這兩家零售企業(yè)之間掀起一場(chǎng)大混戰(zhàn),。上周一,，百思買的股價(jià)下跌了6%，而這被認(rèn)為是受到了來(lái)自亞馬遜新的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)威脅的相關(guān)報(bào)道的影響,。

在亞馬遜的多年壓力之下，百思買做出了轉(zhuǎn)變,，提出了“重塑藍(lán)色”策略,。這一策略將實(shí)體店和網(wǎng)店相結(jié)合,，顧客可以自由選擇他們喜歡的方式親身體驗(yàn)產(chǎn)品。

百思買在與亞馬遜的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)中掌握一個(gè)有利條件,，那就是極客品牌。極客為顧客提供全套安裝和維護(hù)服務(wù),。相比之下,，亞馬遜在該領(lǐng)域的經(jīng)驗(yàn)僅限于提供“聯(lián)系第三方安裝”,。而現(xiàn)在，智能家居安裝服務(wù)看上去已經(jīng)成為亞馬遜下一個(gè)要瞄準(zhǔn)的主要目標(biāo),。

亞馬遜在其智能家居網(wǎng)站上稱,，“我們的安裝專家是亞馬遜正式員工,，不是外聘人員,?！?所以也就不難理解,，亞馬遜為何建立了一個(gè)核心員工團(tuán)隊(duì),，以確保服務(wù)的高水準(zhǔn),。不過(guò)隨著規(guī)模增長(zhǎng),，亞馬遜很可能得向當(dāng)?shù)氐莫?dú)立承包商尋求支持,。一個(gè)類似的例子是,，麥當(dāng)勞在擴(kuò)張初期采取的策略是直營(yíng)部分門店，而對(duì)其它門店給予特許經(jīng)營(yíng)權(quán),，從中實(shí)現(xiàn)最佳平衡,。

與麥當(dāng)勞不同的是，無(wú)論麥當(dāng)勞直營(yíng)店還是特許經(jīng)營(yíng)店都能提供同樣的產(chǎn)品和體驗(yàn),，而亞馬遜則必須十分謹(jǐn)慎地管理市場(chǎng)，避免出現(xiàn)產(chǎn)品或體驗(yàn)不一致的情況,。這就要求亞馬遜對(duì)獨(dú)立的安裝商,、承包商和其他專業(yè)服務(wù)人員進(jìn)行管理，就像管理自己的產(chǎn)品一樣,。

擁有自己的司機(jī)網(wǎng)絡(luò)的優(yōu)步是一個(gè)可以效仿的對(duì)象,。與優(yōu)步的做法相似,，亞馬遜可以把項(xiàng)目承包出去,，這比雇傭員工要便宜得多。

盡管亞馬遜在安裝和服務(wù)方面還沒(méi)有建立起足夠規(guī)模的顧客基礎(chǔ)或是良好的口碑,，但它在開(kāi)展新業(yè)務(wù)時(shí)表現(xiàn)得義無(wú)反顧,。例如，亞馬遜已經(jīng)用事實(shí)證明,，它可以為了拓展新領(lǐng)域而在較長(zhǎng)一段時(shí)間內(nèi)接受虧損，比如它推出的免費(fèi)配送服務(wù),，以及龐大的倉(cāng)庫(kù)和運(yùn)輸設(shè)施網(wǎng)絡(luò)的建設(shè)。鑒于這些成功經(jīng)驗(yàn),，就算亞馬遜在推出安裝和服務(wù)時(shí)表現(xiàn)得雄心勃勃,，人們也不會(huì)感到驚訝了,。哪怕安裝和服務(wù)只能實(shí)現(xiàn)收支平衡也不要緊，因?yàn)樗軒椭鷣嗰R遜擴(kuò)大旗下產(chǎn)品的市場(chǎng)份額,。

從亞馬遜最近的動(dòng)作來(lái)看,，為了制定和實(shí)施新的戰(zhàn)略，最終提升市場(chǎng)份額,，亞馬遜正在梳理各個(gè)零售領(lǐng)域的情況。在便利店領(lǐng)域,，成功的關(guān)鍵是送貨上門服務(wù),，亞馬遜可能通過(guò)對(duì)全食的收購(gòu)來(lái)加強(qiáng)這個(gè)領(lǐng)域的能力。在服裝領(lǐng)域,，亞馬遜正試圖利用其專利技術(shù)來(lái)顛覆現(xiàn)有模式，即在客戶下單后迅速地按需生產(chǎn)商品,。

現(xiàn)在,，在電子產(chǎn)品領(lǐng)域,，亞馬遜的下一個(gè)戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)是服務(wù)和安裝。亞馬遜在智能家居市場(chǎng)的投入越大,，Alexa就越有可能成為這個(gè)市場(chǎng)的中心。Alexa是一個(gè)集空調(diào)系統(tǒng),、照明系統(tǒng),、安全系統(tǒng)、娛樂(lè)和音響系統(tǒng)為一體的中樞,。亞馬遜是否會(huì)更進(jìn)一步地深入這個(gè)領(lǐng)域還有待觀察。是否未來(lái)有一天,，消費(fèi)者在百思買購(gòu)買的三星電視,，會(huì)由亞馬遜的承包商來(lái)提供安裝服務(wù)，把電視連接到Alexa系統(tǒng)上,？這似乎也是有可能發(fā)生的,。

作者莫漢比爾·紹尼是美國(guó)西北大學(xué)凱洛格商學(xué)院麥考密克論壇基金會(huì)技術(shù)專業(yè)的教授,。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）??

譯者：Amelia Huang

There is a new front in the ongoing battle between Amazon and retailers, especially its rival Best Buy: Amazon appears to be readying a siege on the in-home installation and service market, which was a competitive edge for Best Buy with its Geek Squad.

It was reported Monday that the company is now offering free consultations for its Alexa device, and installations for a fee. But if Amazon rolls out its installation service beyond “select cities,” as listed on its website, it could have a distinct advantage: Best Buy has built its business around computers, while the future belongs to artificial intelligence and smart devices. Thus, Alexa, Amazon’s virtual assistant, could be the “Trojan horse” that gets the company off the doorstep where packages are delivered and into consumers’ homes.

Amazon is already promoting Alexa as the brain of the smart home. Alexa not only powers several Amazon products, such as the Echo, but Amazon is also pushing connectivity with third-party goods, such as lighting and appliances. Now, to provide an end-to-end customer experience, Amazon knows it needs to go beyond merely delivering a smartphone, television, or an Alexa-powered device, and also offer installation and setup, which can be beyond the capability of consumers.

Should Amazon go after Best Buy’s Geek Squad, it would be a major upset in the battle between the two retailers. A 6% decline in Best Buy’s stock price on Monday was attributed to reports of Amazon’s new competitive threat.

Under pressure for years from Amazon, Best Buy has turned itself around with its “Renew Blue” strategy, which combines physical stores and a robust website, allowing customers to experience products in person while choosing how they want to shop.

But one of the assets Best Buy has garnered in its fight against Amazon has been the Geek Squad, which offers a full-range of installation and maintenance services. Amazon’s experience in this area to date has been limited to a third-party “hire a handyman” service. But now, smart-home installation services appear to be Amazon’s next big idea.

Amazon states on its smart-home setup site that its “experts are Amazon employees, not contractors.” It would make sense that the company would build this model with a core group of employees for consistency. But as it scales, the company would likely need to turn to independent contractors located in local markets. The analogy here would be McDonald’s in its early days of expansion, of owning some company stores and franchising the rest, in order to find the optimal balance.

But while McDonald’s was able to deliver a consistent product and experience no matter if a restaurant was company-owned or franchised, Amazon will have to manage its marketplace carefully to guard against inconsistency. This will require Amazon to curate a marketplace of independent installers, contractors, and other service professionals, much like it does in the marketplace for products.

The model here is Uber, with its network of independent drivers. In much the same way, Amazon would be able to utilize contractors, which would be cheaper than hiring employees.

While Amazon doesn’t have a critical mass or a reputation as yet in installation and service, it is relentless when starting a new business. For example, the company has shown that it can absorb losses for an extended period of time while it builds new capabilities, such as its free delivery or expansive network of warehouses and shipping facilities. Given this track record, it would be no surprise if Amazon was aggressive in its rollout of installation and service. Even if it only achieves breakeven on installation and service, Amazon would benefit by driving market share for Amazon products.

By its recent actions, it is clear that Amazon is examining retailing, category by category, in order to devise and adopt strategies that will enable it to expand its market share. In grocery, the key is home delivery, which it may further leverage with its purchase of Whole Foods . In clothing, Amazon is seeking to disrupt the model with its patented technology to produce goods on-demand quickly, after a customer places an order.

Now, in electronics, the next frontier for Amazon is service and installation. The more Amazon can push into the smart home, the more Alexa can become the center of gravity—a hub for integrating HVAC systems, lighting, and security, as well as entertainment and sound systems. What remains to be seen is whether Amazon will make an even deeper push. Will one day the Samsung television bought at Best Buy be serviced by an Amazon contractor who is connecting it to Alexa? This does not seem out of the realm of possibility.

Mohanbir Sawhney is the McCormick Tribune Foundation professor of technology at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.