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Amazon, the Brand Buster

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Re: Amazon, the Brand Buster

#81

Post by arkades »

autokad wrote: post #23
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the example given with Alexa voice purchases ("Buy batteries" only results in AmazomBasics batteries being purchased) is a pretty major difference that makes the in-store comparison not really a great analogy. Every CVS I've been to always has the CVS brand pretty much right next to the major label brand - they're equally accessible. If I ask a store worker where the shampoo is, he'll point me to the shampoo…

IN healthcare, when I order a prescription they default the knock off brands. I honestly dont have a problem with Alexa defaulting to the cheapest option with near equal quality

In healthcare the pharmaceutical shoppe gives you what your insurer defaults to - the cheapest. Neither the insurer nor the pharmaceutical shoppe are manufacturing the drug (neither the brand name nor the knock-off).

Amazon - the shoppe - is the one making the decision, and it’s decision is to default to the item that Amazon manufactures.

In one instance the payor is choosing a manufacturer and the shoppe is fulfilling the order - all manufacturers are on equal footing; in the other the shoppe is both choosing the manufacturer (itself) and fulfilling, while disadvantaging the other manufacturers, and making the decision without asking the payor.

I hope you see how these situations are in no way analogous, and only superficially related in that the customer ends up with a knock-off.

Re: Amazon, the Brand Buster

#82

Post by abandonliberty »

Amazon picks successful high margin items and knocks them off.

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazonbasics-house-bra...

https://www.amazon.com/Rain-Design-mStand-Laptop-Patented/dp...

https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-DSN-01750-SL-Laptop-Stan...

Interestingly though, the amazonbasics version doesn't hit the first page for laptop stands while the Rain version still does.

Re: Amazon, the Brand Buster

#83

Post by tomjen3 »

graton wrote: post #37
pietroglyph wrote: post #5

I think this illustrates the unfair advantage pretty well: https://www.amazon.com/s/&field-keywords=batteries

On a somewhat related note: https://www.wsj.com/articles/demand-for-batteries-is-shrinki... I was able to read it via a google search: https://www.google.com/search?q=duracell+energizer+high+pric... From the article: Shoppers are paying more for disposable batteries even though the proliferation of toys and consumer electronics powered by built-in rechargeable batteries has reduced U.S. demand. That is because the tw…

I wasn't able to use the google search, but the link works on archive.is http://archive.is/As0p5

Re: Amazon, the Brand Buster

#84

Post by tomjen3 »

bshepard wrote: post #4

How much do consumers pay in Bezos tax for goods on Amazon? i.e, if the site simply let consumers buy from Chinese manufacturers (which, in the end, is what much of Amazon is) without the fee to the owners of the marketplace (i.e, "Bezos Tax), how much cheaper would it be?

I would be more expensive: you would have to pay tax on the imports, you wouldn't get a warrenty and the stuff that is sold on ali-express is not the same as is being sold in the west. The chargers for one don't hold up to the safety specs so they are cheap, but not when they burn down your house.

I buy stuff from ali from time to time, but I would never buy anything expensive there.

Re: Amazon, the Brand Buster

#85

Post by [deleted] »

Zak wrote: post #60

I'm a little surprised so many people still buy large numbers of alkaline batteries. NiMH rechargeables are readily available, have a fairly low cost to get started with a battery/charger bundle, save a significant amount of money over time and have vastly better performance in higher-drain devices like cameras and flashlights.

[deleted]

Re: Amazon, the Brand Buster

#86

Post by tjr225 »

tomjen3 wrote: post #74
DanCarvajal wrote: post #70

As someone who almost always buys generic brand from wherever I shop I'm pretty aloof to these complaints. Target, Walmart, and Costco all have in house brands. The Amazon brand "Goodthreads" Oxfords I wear to the office are very impressively well made for the price. Compared to the Target "Goodfellow & Co" ones at the same price there's a higher level of quality and finish. They're better than the Banana Republic on…

I always do that with toilet paper, soap, etc. If Amazon kills brands, that is a great thing. If you need to wear expensive clothing to show how rich you are, donate 10k to the top ranked give well charity, buy a five dollar t-shirt and I will sew your reciept on it. Much more efficent than throwing more money on Raulph Lauren.

Branding isn't exclusively used by retail companies to signal wealth.

Re: Amazon, the Brand Buster

#87

Post by civilitty »

abandonliberty wrote: post #82

Amazon picks successful high margin items and knocks them off. https://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazonbasics-house-bra... https://www.amazon.com/Rain-Design-mStand-Laptop-Patented/dp... https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-DSN-01750-SL-Laptop-Stan... Interestingly though, the amazonbasics version doesn't hit the first page for laptop stands while the Rain version still does.

> Interestingly though, the amazonbasics version doesn't hit the first page for laptop stands while the Rain version still does.

I'm curious, does this mean that Amazon doesn't prioritize their own products in the search algorithm? I've felt that in the past Amazon is usually ahead of the game on legal issues - like when they started collecting state sales taxes across the board, years before the Supreme Court ruling. Sooner or later, we're going to see court precedent and laws regulating search algorithms for anticompetitive behavior to supplement the more broad antitrust laws so maybe Amazon is keeping out of it to avoid any problems later. As an Amazon shopper, I've gotten used to the Amazon Basics icon and I'm sure that alone has marketing advantages over the Rain product entry.

Re: Amazon, the Brand Buster

#88

Post by Zak »

tomjen3 wrote: post #77
Zak wrote: post #60

I'm a little surprised so many people still buy large numbers of alkaline batteries. NiMH rechargeables are readily available, have a fairly low cost to get started with a battery/charger bundle, save a significant amount of money over time and have vastly better performance in higher-drain devices like cameras and flashlights.

Most of the devices that I use batteries for are not high drain, not even my flashlights (because LEDs). I would prefer always having a stack of batteries to having to buy more (because they are always in use) and remember which are charged. My camera, laptop, smartphone, kindle, etc all have their own rechargable battery, so what is left is mostly my Ikea tradlos, kitchen scale and car keys (plus associated stuff th…

LED flashlights can be extremely high-drain depending on the ratio of output to size, but "high-drain" with regard to battery performance may be lower than you think. If 12 hours of constant operation will drain the batteries, low-self-discharge NiMH like white Eneloops or AmazonBasics will outlast any brand of alkaline.

Higher self-discharge (loss of charge when not in use) offers more capacity, and only extremely low-drain devices will last marginally longer with alkaline.

There are Li-ion button cells such as 2032, but their voltage range is higher than the disposables and their capacity is quite low. Their applications are fairly niche.

Re: Amazon, the Brand Buster

#89

Post by snom380 »

ams6110 wrote: post #78
Zak wrote: post #60

I'm a little surprised so many people still buy large numbers of alkaline batteries. NiMH rechargeables are readily available, have a fairly low cost to get started with a battery/charger bundle, save a significant amount of money over time and have vastly better performance in higher-drain devices like cameras and flashlights.

I've tried using rechargeables a few times and it never works out over the long-term. They get thrown away by people who don't realize they are rechargeable, you end up with one less than you need, you forget to charge them, it's just a pain compared to having a supply of disposable batteries that have a good shelf life and are always ready to use

I used to have the same opinion, but modern NiMH batteries have far longer shelf live than they used to, and the price is low enough that you can afford to keep some spares in an 8 battery charger ready to use. I do have a set of alkaline batteries, but I haven't used them in 3 years.

Re: Amazon, the Brand Buster

#90

Post by andyidsinga »

HarryHirsch wrote: post #58
andyidsinga wrote: post #19

the referenced article from Yale Law Journal is very interesting - and discuss amazon in context of anti-trust laws, what is wrong with those laws and some solutions. snip snip ( https://www.yalelawjournal.org/note/amazons-antitrust-parado... ) "in some ways, the story of Amazon’s sustained and growing dominance is also the story of changes in our antitrust laws. Due to a change in legal thinking and practice in the…

It is as if Bezos charted the company’s growth by first drawing a map of antitrust laws, and then devising routes to smoothly bypass them What if that statement was correct? Bezos comes from D.E. Shaw, and it's known that the old sphinx takes the long view.

That's quote is certainly alluring - My initial reaction was similar.

On further thought, based on my experience working with general managers/executives, I suspect they were following their noses more than making any elaborate plans.

A big advantage they had (and continue to have), was being embedded in a data rich software/online context AND the organizational drive to use it to their advantage.

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