Drinking while grocery shopping. Is pot next?

Amazon.com seems to be unstoppable. It's grabbed the lion's share of the e-commerce market, turned other retailers into mere showrooms for shoppers who then purchase online, discarded list prices in favor of its own internal comparisons, and turned Prime Day into a new national shopping holiday. Little buttons around the house can be pressed to reorder staples, and voice commands to my Amazon Echo can summon goods to the home.Supermarkets are now in Amazon's sights. I've received come-ons lately for Amazon Fresh.But instead of quaking in their boots, some supermarkets are taking a page from the casino playbook and offering inexpensive alcoholic beverages to customers. From the Wall Street Journal (Supermarkets Invite Shoppers to Drink While They Shop):

At nearly 350 Whole Foods locations nationwide, shoppers can carry open beverages out of the bar area and around the store as they shop around. Some stores have added cup holders to their shopping carts or placed racks around the store where shoppers can place empty stemless wine glasses. In some Texas locations, the $1 cans of beer rest in ice-filled buckets labeled “walkin’ around beer.” “When customers find out that they can sip and shop, a lot of times it’s a lightbulb moment,” Mr. Kopperud says.

Take that Jeff Bezos!As just about everyone knows, alcohol lowers inhibitions and is more or less guaranteed to boost retail sales. Impulse purchase anyone?But let's fast forward this story just a bit. With the movement toward the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes --which I oppose-- it's just a matter of time before these same stores start opening marijuana boutiques at their entrances, featuring a wide variety of tasty edibles. For Whole Foods they will likely be organic, gluten free and artisanal.You can bet the munchies will contribute to a healthy boost to the average sale!Come to think of it, these two ideas aren't mutually exclusive. A walkin' around beer and a marijuana edible sounds pretty darn attractive.Ok, Amazon. What's your reply?

Image courtesy of iosphere at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

—By healthcare business consultant David E. Williams, president of Health Business Group.