Amazon develops SMB POS

The e-commerce giant Amazon is still expanding its web. It has been working for several months now on a secret project called Santos. It integrates a solution for in-store and online payment and would help Amazon to compete with players in the sector, Shopify and PayPal in particular.

THE FACTS

• The Santos project has not been made official by Amazon, but teams from the web giant have been working for several months with the aim of presenting a future payment system.

• The web giant is planning to develop a system capable of managing online and offline payment transactions. Above all, this system will be able to work directly with other Amazon services such as the Prime loyalty program, the One ID system or the Flex delivery services.

• In addition to checkout, Amazon's future service will also be able to provide inventory and stock management services to merchants and sales analysis.

• The target: merchants of all sizes, primarily SMEs and VSEs.

• Amazon did not wish to comment on the subject for the moment.

CHALLENGES

• Complete its ecosystem: Amazon has been lacking a "payment" brick alongside its payment and sales support solutions. Indeed, as the retail giant originally came from the web, physical points of sale were not its primary concern. To better attract its merchant partners and develop a seamless omnichannel experience, Amazon is expanding its range of payment services. This strategy validates the idea that payment has become one of the 5Ps of marketing, just like price, product, placement, etc...

• To offer a new competitive weapon: Amazon is trying to compete with PayPal and Square and their payment services. But Amazon's main target remains Shopify, the Canadian e-commerce platform. The Santos project is presented as a way for Amazon to capture more small and medium-sized businesses, which are increasingly attracted by Shopify's offer.

MARKET PERSPECTIVE

• The Santos project might seem contradictory in Amazon's overall strategy as the web giant works on democratizing its cashless store. But its ambition to offer both a physical and online checkout service is actually a way for Amazon to get a new foot in the world of physical commerce. The Santos project is in line with Amazon's strategy to move beyond e-commerce and its status as a pure player.