In its ongoing quest to integrate itself into every facet of our existence, the online giant wants to clean our homes now.
The company is experimenting with a new service called Amazon Home Assistants to do all the chores we don’t want to do, i.e. cleaning, taking out the trash, dishes and laundry. The service is currently available in the Seattle area and could roll out nationwide if successful.
If this sounds familiar it’s because Amazon made a similar play three years ago called Amazon Home Services, a platform that connects homeowners with independent contractors, such as plumbers, electricians and, yes, pool service professionals.
What makes Home Assistants different is that housekeepers are employed by Amazon. Retaining its own staff of chore pros will allow Amazon to better control the customer-service experience, differentiating itself from similar home-service marketplaces like Angie’s List and HomeAdvisor.
If Home Assistants is a hit, Amazon could be motivated to broaden its services to include in-house teams that specialize in other home-improvement categories, making the company not only a source for products, but also the installer, assembler and maintainer of them, much like BestBuy’s Geek Squad.
It makes one wonder if Amazon will one day deploy its own staff of pool service techs to install and repair equipment and perform weekly maintenance.
If it decided to do that, it would face certain challenges.
House cleaners are often low-wage employees, easier to recruit and train than specialized pool-service pros. Plus, Amazon would have to navigate the thicket of industry licensing requirements and regulations that vary by location.
“Swimming pool service is a complex business …,” said Bill Kent, CEO of Team Horner, a pool supplies manufacturer and distributor in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “Most service companies learn by working for someone else for a while and then going into their own business.”
He’s seen another home-improvement heavyweight enter the field and fail. Several decades ago, Sears offered pool service in South Florida, but it was a nonstarter.
