Who is coming to eat your lunch?

Disruption is one of those words being thrown around like Halloween candy these days.

So much so that you might start to ignore it and take you place in the market for granted. A recent WSJ headline reads: Amazon’s Newest Ambition: Competing Directly With UPS and FedEx

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Executives at the freight giants are skeptical, and so are analysts and logistics experts. They say it would be difficult and costly to build a domestic delivery network to rival the big U.S. players, especially after the failed multibillion-dollar attempt by Deutsche Post AG’s DHL Express in the 2000s. (WSJ — 9/27/16)

Are they nuts? Did they forget the drone video?

That was published last year on Nov 29, 2015.

They have loudly and boldly declared war on UPS and FedEx and they don’t even seem to acknowledge it. They must be wearing rose colored glasses. 😎

How can we forget the story of Barnes & Noble?

One of my favorite tales from this saga was when the Nook was released in 2009. This was two years after the Kindle was released.

The Nook also features integration with Barnes & Noble’s retail stores. Users who bring the device into the store will find that special offers, content and discounts pop up on the Nook’s screen. Eventually, the company says, customers will be able to read entire e-books for free inside the physical store. (WSJ — 10/21/09)

Kind of missing the whole point of the eBook now weren’t they? These folks don’t want to come to the bookstore to read the book.

What a stark contrast the Nook’s “retail store integration” is from the intuition brought to the design and intent behind the Amazon Kindle.

In 2007, when the Kindle was first introduced, smart people had this to say about it.

“I like the Sony Reader, but it was built by technology people,” says Evan Schnittman, vice president business development, rights, academic & USA divisions, Oxford University Press. “The Kindle device was clearly built by readers.” (WSJ- 11/20/07)

The logistics giants better wake up and smell the Bezos. Because they are about to lose a big account. I wont be surprised when Amazon decides to use their distribution network to mail my letters to Grandma.

If Bezos can buy the Washington Post, why not the US Post Office?

So after having said all that… who is coming to eat your lunch? Are you seeing the disruption coming from hidden competition?

The record companies didn’t expect a computer company to come after them. The cabbies didn’t expect an app to break them. No one expected the Internet.

Who or what will change your business seemingly overnight? Might you be able to see it coming now if you step outside your bubble?

Originally published at Chris Handy.