Amazon launches Part Finder, using technology acquired from Partpic in 2016
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Re: Amazon launches Part Finder, using technology acquired from Partpic in 2016
#2From what I understand they are now competing with Granger in the Industrial market.
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-09-11/amazon-am...
And now they are getting into Fastenals market it seems, which is a billion dollar industry.
I was just recently trying to figure out where to get that little square clip that slides onto the gas cylinder on my Aeron chair to keep the rod from coming out.
Re: Amazon launches Part Finder, using technology acquired from Partpic in 2016
#3I remember when Amazon bought CDNow ages ago. CDNow let me easily find specific CDs by artist and title AND they even had a great recommendation algorithm. I discovered some great new music that way.
In 2002 Amazon shut down CDNow with the idea that you'd just use Amazon.com. Unfortunately, search has been one of Amazon's weakest features. Sixteen years later and I still miss CDNow. Amazon rarely shows exactly what I've searched for and the filtering is almost entirely useless. I want to sort by price or filter by vendor without having to guess which one of the twenty different categories an item is in (often times it's in multiple categories). I want the price of the item to mach what you've shown in the search results (or an explanation why there's a significant difference). If you can't ship something to California or the USA I want know BEFORE I try to check out. It should go without saying I don't want ads in the search results either.
To me this "fancy" search by picture is not helpful (instead it's entirely useless). If I want a fastener, I want to be able search by its attributes (something Amazon is terrible about in general). Let's say I want a pretty common metric bolt (M8) in a standard thread pitch (1.25mm). I'll go search or "M8x1.25 bolt". I get a bunch of useless filters, including:
Fastener Material: Stainless Steel, Stainless Steel 304, Steel. Right. What sort of stainless steel is the first option?
System Of (sic) Measurement: Metric. Nice that this is unchecked and the only option.
Fastener Thread Size - Mating (eh?): No Thread Size Selected, M8-1.25. This one is a combo box with a "Go" button for some reason. I literally just entered the thread size and pitch I wanted in the search query. They can parse a picture but they can't figure out I've entered this information in already? Ugh.
Fastener Grade & Class: Class 10.9. Aside from the lack of selection, this is where the stainless classification SHOULD go.
Categories... well, you've got bolts, hex bolts, eyebolts... Powersports Wheel Spacers? AmazonFresh? WTF?
Meanwhile rather important filters are missing like: finish and length.
Edit: Contrast this with Grainger (whose site is good, but not great) or McMaster-Carr (the gold standard).
Re: Amazon launches Part Finder, using technology acquired from Partpic in 2016
#4From what I understand they are now competing with Granger in the Industrial market. https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-09-11/amazon-am... And now they are getting into Fastenals market it seems, which is a billion dollar industry. https://www.fastenal.com/ I was just recently trying to figure out where to get that little square clip that slides onto the gas cylinder on my Aeron chair to keep the rod from c…
Grainger has many things in their favor, here's hoping they can fend off Amazon.
* Better search and organization of inventory
* Mail order discount arm (Zoro)
* Brick and mortar presence as well as the logistics to handle this.
* Clear labeling of certifications and country of origin compared to Amazon's persistent problems with counterfeits and that whole mess with third party sellers.
About the only place I'd expect Amazon to be able to compete is on logistics.
Re: Amazon launches Part Finder, using technology acquired from Partpic in 2016
#5While I don't want to be too presumptuous and say this is going to fail, it is definitely not going to defeat Fastenal or McMaster-Carr. Really, it comes down whether it's a generic part, or specifically engineered for a larger assembly. If it's the former, it's going to be significantly easier to use a website like McMaster-Carr where every item is completely organized into a hierarchy. You can quickly drill down and find the exact part you need. Amazon's Industrial & Scientific is a joke in comparison. A iPhone picture is going to have a lot of error in regards to material, coating, grade, threadpitch, etc.
And if it's a bespoke part, you are much better getting the part number from an exploded diagram. Again, this is super fast and accurate (assuming you actually have the diagrams, and that parts are still available). Engineers put a huge amount of work into designing fasteners, and modern vehicles will have thousands of different kinds. For example, Toyota transfer case has two different bolts holding the housing together, one is 27 mm long, the other is 29 mm. A single picture is definitely not going to tell the length.
Maybe someday every single part will have an rfid tag on it. Don't bother putting a barcode on each part, years of grease, corrosion, and wear (the very things that cause you do need a new part) will obliterate it.
Re: Amazon launches Part Finder, using technology acquired from Partpic in 2016
#6From what I understand they are now competing with Granger in the Industrial market. https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-09-11/amazon-am... And now they are getting into Fastenals market it seems, which is a billion dollar industry. https://www.fastenal.com/ I was just recently trying to figure out where to get that little square clip that slides onto the gas cylinder on my Aeron chair to keep the rod from c…
Fastenal is terrible, I hope amazon beats them
I don’t buy enough hardware to have an account and rep at fastenal, so it’s a crap shoot what anything will cost. Sometimes it’s full retail, sometimes it’s been 60% off. Depends on the manager in duty’s mood. So now I just order from McMaster, sometimes they cost a little more but usually it’s much cheaper, and I know what to expect before I get to the register.
Re: Amazon launches Part Finder, using technology acquired from Partpic in 2016
#7Partpic was founded by two non tech founders and Amanzon aqui hired them. Not sure what technology they are brining to the table there.....and of course the buyout was for a non disclosed amount... Typical Atlanta.
Re: Amazon launches Part Finder, using technology acquired from Partpic in 2016
#8From what I understand they are now competing with Granger in the Industrial market. https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-09-11/amazon-am... And now they are getting into Fastenals market it seems, which is a billion dollar industry. https://www.fastenal.com/ I was just recently trying to figure out where to get that little square clip that slides onto the gas cylinder on my Aeron chair to keep the rod from c…
Fastenal is terrible, I hope amazon beats them I don’t buy enough hardware to have an account and rep at fastenal, so it’s a crap shoot what anything will cost. Sometimes it’s full retail, sometimes it’s been 60% off. Depends on the manager in duty’s mood. So now I just order from McMaster, sometimes they cost a little more but usually it’s much cheaper, and I know what to expect before I get to the register.
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Re: Amazon launches Part Finder, using technology acquired from Partpic in 2016
#9I remember when Amazon bought CDNow ages ago. CDNow let me easily find specific CDs by artist and title AND they even had a great recommendation algorithm. I discovered some great new music that way. In 2002 Amazon shut down CDNow with the idea that you'd just use Amazon.com. Unfortunately, search has been one of Amazon's weakest features. Sixteen years later and I still miss CDNow. Amazon rarely shows exactly what I…
The app may not have it, but Amazon's retail site has these kinds of filters for bolts:
https://smile.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=node%3D1729002...
Re: Amazon launches Part Finder, using technology acquired from Partpic in 2016
#10I remember when Amazon bought CDNow ages ago. CDNow let me easily find specific CDs by artist and title AND they even had a great recommendation algorithm. I discovered some great new music that way. In 2002 Amazon shut down CDNow with the idea that you'd just use Amazon.com. Unfortunately, search has been one of Amazon's weakest features. Sixteen years later and I still miss CDNow. Amazon rarely shows exactly what I…
Imo most of amazon's search is slopily done. I find it mostly frustrating to use to be honest. It only works good if you know exactly what you want otherwise you just get results of products that are of questionable quality.