Amazon - Busiest Brand of the Year

(This post also appears on HuffPost, click here if you'd like to read it there)

A year or two ago I would have said Starbucks. Or Google. Or even Zappos or Coca-Cola. But this year I've got to say Amazon.

Amazon, to my naked eye, is the busiest brand of the year.

Amazon Dash, Alexa, Echo. Amazon Echo Look. Food delivery. Wine delivery. Just delivery in general. Book stores. Convenience stores.

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

Oh, and original Entertainment. Can you say Transparent?

It's almost like it's an Amazon World. Well, maybe not almost. Boy oh boy the brand has been bizzz-eee. The effect has been, well, "The Amazon Effect" as online retailing, and this online retailer in particular,  has dramatically changed how people shop and what they expect from a shopping experience as well as the speed at which they expect product selection and delivery.

But it's not just online anymore for this retailing change agent. We've already seen the brand expand in the physical world and we knew there would be more to come. Whole Foods...bam.

And now...a partnership with Kohl's to add brick and mortar Amazon departments within select Kohl's locations. Ten of them to be exact, around the LA and Chicago metro areas. The space will be about 1,000 square feet (not huge) and will offer a curated selection of Amazon Home products that you can buy right then and there on site, right along side an Amazon consultant who will help you get it all set up.

A pretty brilliant way to add a network of actual physical retail locations. With a great amount of service...service that will likely convert a lot of interested users who might otherwise be intimidated to buy it all and set it up themselves.

And pretty smart for Kohl's too...becoming a source for tech and tech service. Hmm...more to come from that arena?

Continuing to change the face of retail? Certainly seems so.

What's your pick for the busiest brand of the year? What's your experience? JIM