Has Amazon created another high-draw shopping model with its Treasure Trucks?

This past Saturday, Amazon.com stealthily launched a flash sale in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston and Los Angeles using its only once-before-seen Treasure Trucks. Touted as "an ice cream truck for grown-ups," the engagement model, which was tested in Seattle before being rolled out to new markets this weekend, is unique and intriguing. The truck drives around town with a single “amazing deal” and, when it’s going to be in your area, you get a text on your phone. If interested, you click to buy on your app, pick one of the trucks as your pickup point and get over there — fast. The launch video for the service eludes to items such as new releases and electronics, steaks and seafood, outdoor gear, toys and more. All you do is sign up and wait for the truck to arrive at a city near you. The brilliant move we saw with this weekend’s maiden voyage was the choice of lure, which was the elusive NES Classic Edition gaming console. Game aficionados could snag the retro device, which was discontinued a few months ago, at its original $60 price for one day only. The offer was available from 11 am to 5 pm, only while stock lasted, and it was seen (and socially shared) as what may be the best and possibly last opportunity to get the Classic without succumbing to the inflated prices of third-party resellers or online auctions. Amazon has creatively harnessed a powerful combination of tactics — exclusivity, FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), gamification, relevance and value — to make Treasure Trucks as alluring as possible. In doing so, Amazon not only caused a purchase frenzy with a highly passionate interest group, it also showed us that people are quite happy to work hard to purchase something if the carrot is attractive enough. Being in the retail innovation business, one of my favorite “truths” is that, to teach people a new behavior, the fear of remaining the same must exceed the fear of learning something new. As this new model becomes a norm, what does it mean for other retailers? Introducing Treasure Truck – Amazon.com https://www.amazon.com/treasuretruck Amazon is expanding its quirky Treasure Truck, bringing roving deals to these 5 cities – GeekWire https://www.geekwire.com/2017/amazon-expanding-quirky-treasure-truck-bringing-roving-deals-5-cities/ Amazon deal trucks may be your last chance at an NES Classic – Engadget https://www.engadget.com/2017/07/29/amazon-treasure-trucks-nes-classic-sale/ DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Has Amazon created yet another coveted shopping model with the Treasure Truck? What could this mean for traditional retailers and their traffic generation efforts? Does the Treasure Truck model debunk the theory that shoppers prefer in-home delivery?