Running head: Amazon Go CSR 1

Amazon Go CSR

Student Name

Professor’s University

University Name

28th March 2022

 Amazon Go CSR 2

Introduction 3

Literature Review 3

Discussion and Analysis 6

Conclusion 10

References 11
 Amazon Go CSR 3

Introduction

Amazon Go is a model that tries to make purchases more convenient for people.

Ordinarily, a customer would have to find the item they want and pay for it. However, this

model eliminates the step of payment by tracking which items a customer takes off the shelf

and automatically charging them for the items upon exit. The idea seems simple but is fairly

complicated behind the scenes. Amazon has innovated the shopping experience by

introducing Amazon Go, a store that operates in a futuristic setting in which there is no

checkout required, instead buyers are never waiting in line. Upon entering the store, buyers

scan the Amazon Go App onto their phones, and once paid for products they have selected by

on-site cameras and sensors. Although this may be beneficial to some and an innovative step

for Amazon, it has left many wondering about the potential long-term consequences of the

technology that could result from this technological innovation, regarding privacy concerns.

This report discusses the social responsibility of Amazon Go and its part in sustainability as a

business.

Literature Review

Corporate social responsibility is imperative, as most consumers and job seekers

consider how businesses deal with their environmental, social and economic impacts. To

make responsible decisions, companies need to understand what issues matter to interested

parties and how best to address them. Instead of maximizing shareholder value, socially

responsible companies should act in a manner that benefits society. Such companies adopt

policies that promote the well-being of society and the environment while lessening negative

impacts on them. Amazon has been for a long time.

In the business of Amazon, the societal concerns for “accountability, integrity, and

sustainability” have to be addressed. Besides meeting local laws and regulations, the

company is striving daily to contribute a positive impact on the world and create value for
 Amazon Go CSR 4

stakeholders such as customers, employees, shareholders, suppliers and the local community.

Some of these practices are the following: environmental impact reduction about climate

change; protecting human rights; donating food and providing shelter to underserved

communities, among others.

Amazon is an important company but is also an unusual one in its approach to

corporate social responsibility (Maamoun, 2020). It grows so fast that it seems to get more

popular among the public every year, despite the negative press surrounding Amazon's

business practices and poor treatment of consumers' privacy rights. With Amazon Go, reports

say that Amazon is seeking to change the way it makes money by placing greater emphasis

on competitors such as Walmart and trying to be a more progressive corporate citizen in

regards to its citizens' needs. Amazon has a very detailed and well-thought-out policy in

corporate social responsibility. In addition to setting aside profits for charitable purposes,

Amazon provides its employees with educational and career development programs that help

employees rise the corporate ladder and have a healthy work-life balance (Coronado-

Hernandez et al., 2021). The company's yearly charity day is also an excellent example of its

caring for employees.

As the shopping experience of Amazon Go begins to take shape, it puts pressure on

retailers and the food industry to match it in terms of convenience. If this model proves

successful, then there will be more investment in technology providers who specialize in self-

checkout systems. As Attaran (2019) discusses, this would create a domino effect on how

consumers shop, what they want from their retail experience and how technology can help

change that. In the quest of creating a sustainable future, retailers have taken major strides

this year. The introduction of retail automation reduced the need for human involvement,

something which is regarded as an excellent step to optimize business practices and minimize

waste in the market.

 Amazon Go CSR 5

The distribution of products and services to customers is an important part of the food

market. The increase in the number of consumers has led to an increase in the number of

retail stores, which has created a boom in self-service distribution. Unmanned terminal

shoppers allow each customer to enter the store and choose what they want without waiting

for a cashier or salesperson to ring up their final bill. Customers can also interact with

unmanned terminals via screen operation or voice recognition commands, so that

transactional information is also eliminated (Kwak & Cho, 2019). The store mainly targets

people in urban areas who are looking for a quick shopping experience while saving time and

money. Some critics of Amazon may not realize that there is a large portion of customers

who want to accomplish their shopping at an equal pace as they would through online

shopping. Amazon Go has also reduced its carbon footprint by eliminating the need for

packaging, plastic bags and other related materials used in physical stores. This paper

provides a deeper analysis of how Amazon Go and other vending machines are changing the

grocery store industry, specifically focusing on their effects on the shopping experience.

Amazon has a far-reaching and positive impact on the world. The Amazon Go

convenience store is an obvious example of the company's social responsibility efforts while

also being an example of the company's economic growth. Amazon is trying to take a

practical approach to its social responsibility, seeking to be a more progressive corporate

citizen regarding its citizens' needs. Going forward, people must see the impact that the

company has on their lives. Amazon has set itself to be the most progressive and caring

retailer in the USA. With its stepped up efforts to interact with its employees, Amazon

continues to prove itself a forward-thinking, innovative and responsible corporation. Though

this article focuses on the corporate social side of Amazon, remember that Amazon's

corporate policies have a ripple effect on every aspect of life for its employees.
 Amazon Go CSR 6

Using Amazon Go brings massive benefits to the environment, encourages an

increased service quality and helps users save time and money. For instance, Amazon Go

increases the ease of shopping by using biometric identification instead of the mundane

physical checkout processes in supermarkets. The time for waiting in lines disappears;

customers just have to focus on selecting the items they need. This approach also helps

Amazon Go to increase the service quality. Instead of measuring their work by counting their

daily receipts, checkout employees are free to focus on improving other services such as

restocking shelves or helping customers find products. Additionally, with this measure,

Amazon Go also reduces numerous plastic wastes from thermal paper receipts that often

cannot be recycled because of the ink and chemicals on them. Paper receipts involve

environmentally costly factors including logging trees; converting pulp into pulp; and

destroying forests upon delivery.

Amazon seems to provide superior services that improve the lives of consumers and

well as employees. However, there is very little data on how consumers tolerate and perceive

the company's new policy that requires customers to use biometric identification devices to

make purchases at Amazon Go.

Discussion and Analysis

With the advent of smartphones, people are now used to being connected every day to

their friends, family and the world. In recent years, there have been many advancements in

technology that are helping people save time, increase productivity and live a more efficient

life (Attaran, 2017). The latest technology that is disrupting how people shop is called

Amazon Go. There are many implications of such a model on the business landscape and

they need to be understood. The retail industry has already witnessed the vast changes that

online shopping has brought to it. This is even more so in the case of food where fresh

produce is difficult to source and deliver. As consumers many factors like the freshness of
 Amazon Go CSR 7

food, cleanliness of stores, range of products as well as having a human element guide our

decisions of where and how to shop for food. The world’s largest online retailer Amazon

recognised this and developed its Amazon Go store which provides customers with the

opportunity to shop without having to deal with the traditional checkout queues at a

supermarket. The concept of Amazon Go is a natural extension of what has come before and

can be expected to change the way food retailers serve their customers. Other practical

applications are likely to develop shortly. The impact of e-business will necessarily transform

the traditional structures and practices of established economies, as well as how we think

about international trade. This shows how technology used at Amazon Go can foster a way to

more efficient and sustainable models for business. Fundamental to their commitment to

social responsibility is the belief that partners deserve fair, legal and livable wages; safe

working conditions; and the opportunity to work in a productive, open environment free from

discrimination. Amazon is committed to ensuring these principles are adhered to across its

supply chain. With Amazon Go, Amazon strives to support its employees in maintaining a

healthy work-life balance by offering unique employee perks and benefits like flexible work

schedules and career development programs. A company culture that values work-life

balance is one of the biggest reasons that Amazon ranks on Glassdoor’s lists of the best

places to work for women as well as for diversity, supporting working parents, and fostering

career advancement opportunities. As a part of its policy in corporate social responsibility,

Amazon has pledged to reinvest most of its profits in charitable activities and initiatives that

promote equal opportunities for education, training, and employment for individuals from

underserved communities. While the company has been actively involved in supporting a

wide range of non-profits and organizations dedicated to promoting STEM education in K-12

schools as well as developing creative solutions to promote local economic growth across the

nation (Furnelli, 2021), has also begun making significant investments in the development of
 Amazon Go CSR 8

disability-friendly employment policies and practices that ensure access to both virtual and

physical workspace environments. The focus on diversity in hiring practices along with the

range of employee benefits work together to create an inclusive environment where all

employees feel valued and supported under their employment at Amazon.

Amazon is trying to make its products and processes more environmentally friendly.

It has been investing in robotic automation, which is a great opportunity to increase

efficiency, reduce waste and preserve resources while offering lower prices. Sustainability is

an important factor for Amazon. The possibility for efficient and targeted use of resources

means sustainable growth that also benefits its business partners, consumers, and society as a

whole. At the same time, sustainability leads to a stronger market position under strong

competitive pressure and expansion into new markets (Maamoun, 2020). A big part of their

corporate social responsibility is Amazon's social initiatives that are primarily aimed at

promoting technology in the field of education. Amazon is investing in making its operations

more sustainable, to reduce the impact of those operations on climate change. But they’re

also designing products and services that help customers use less energy and waste less—and

that reinvest their resources in their circular economy. Organizations that want to grow and

develop must utilize human resources in the best possible way and attract talented people.

Amazon Go is characterized by a competitive compensation package, individual development

programs, excellent leadership, career opportunities and variety at work. All of these

elements create a healthy working environment with space for diversity and professional

challenges.

The newly rising super force of tech companies is not only facing large financial and

logistical challenges but also overcoming human interaction, privacy and trust issues.

Amazon Go has successfully taken a large step away from the traditional shopping

experience with its unmanned checkout terminal (Kwak & Cho, 2019). This creates an
 Amazon Go CSR 9

unbiased system where customers can shop with confidence in the highly popular and

competitive food market.

In looking at this event from a sustainability standpoint, it is clear that Amazon has

made huge strides in mitigating the wasteful impacts of traditional grocery shopping. With

the introduction of Amazon Go locations, consumers can enjoy the same shopping experience

without drawing upon the labour of cashiers. This not only reduces overhead for Amazon but

also decreases the amount of human power required to fulfil these everyday transactions.

From a transparency standpoint, retailers like Walmart and Target have already begun to

display calorie counts for consumers to see. In many ways, this directly affects the supply

chain as companies are forced to comply with making information available to their

customers while doing so affordably.

Though Amazon is a leader in their industry, it is important to remember that the

company is still relatively new to the grocery scene. It has been successful only in the Seattle

area and its expansion plans have yet to be solidified. As a result, it may be best to observe

how successful they are here before replicating elsewhere. While this particular strategy

creates job losses for its employees, Amazon Go locations open up a plethora of opportunities

for other positions within the company. Recent college graduates interested in

entrepreneurship can investigate the potential of technological advancements like these to

disrupt long-established industries (Coronado-Hernandez et al., 2021). Technological savvy

and distinct points of view will replace certain positions lost as automation becomes more

commonplace in retail and commerce. Supply chain experts could also play an important role

in understanding how best to distribute food resources to the general public while cutting

down on spoilage due to inventory mismanagement. To best understand the future of

technology and automation, it is important to look at the successes of those companies that

have already embraced the change. Amazon has set a course towards the automation of retail
 Amazon Go CSR
10

shopping with Amazon Go, which could potentially disrupt their primary service industry.

Although no projections have been made yet on how many jobs this would create or destroy,

there are distinct benefits to such a strategy. Amazon's expansion into physical stores will

most likely be a success, but it should not eliminate existing positions. Instead, it should

transform those positions by restructuring them to focus on tasks that better utilize the skills

of its employees.

From an ethical standpoint, Amazon poses an ethical dilemma to its customers. A

company that has so deeply interwoven itself into our everyday lives opens the door for a

heavily opinionated stance on what is considered acceptable in society today. As a leading

brand internationally, it is important for Amazon to conduct its business with virtue in mind.

Conclusion

Amazon Go is a move towards automation in the retail industry. In many cases, this

tactic provides efficiency and improvements. One benefit is that it will allow companies like

Amazon to reach an entirely new level of efficiency and cut costs faster than ever before.

This will drive innovation and prevent other companies from catching up. Furthermore,

profits may increase because eliminating employees also means eliminating middlemen and

unnecessary labour expenses. The fact that petty theft by employees may also be eliminated

is another plus for retailers like Amazon looking to reduce costs. With the right technological

advancements and business plan, Amazon might just revolutionize global retail shortly.
 Amazon Go CSR
11

References

Attaran, M. (2017). The internet of things: Limitless opportunities for business and

society. Journal of Strategic Innovation and Sustainability Vol, 12(1), 11.

Coronado-Hernandez, J. R., Calderón-Ochoa, A. F., Portnoy, I., & Morales-Mercado,

J. (2021, October). Comparison Between Amazon Go Stores and Traditional Retails

Based on Queueing Theory. In Workshop on Engineering Applications (pp. 347-361).

Springer, Cham.

Furnelli, A. (2021). Amazon Go convenience stores: skip the lines. The CASE

Journal.

Kwak, Y. A., & Cho, Y. S. (2019). Unmanned store, retail tech, and digital divide in

South Korea. Journal of Distribution Science, 17(9), 47-56.

Maamoun, A. (2020). Shades of Green: Amazon, Walmart, and Retail Sustainability.

SAGE Publications: SAGE Business Cases Originals.