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Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

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Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#211

Post by mancerayder »

xigency wrote: post #96
wombatpm wrote: post #5

Sears had everything. Global supply chain, check. Top notch distribution operation, check. System and infrastructure to take orders and handling billing, check. Name recognition and established customer base, check. They threw it all away, ending catalog operations in 1993 a year before Amazon.com opened in 1994. They owned part of Prodigy in 1984! Yet somehow thought it was a better move to expand into bigger box re…

I thought this as well until I heard a counter-point [0] which was very convincing. The reason Amazon is successful is not because you can shop online (from a catalog) and receive items in the mail. The reason Amazon is successful is because you can do those things and receive your items within two days. Before Prime existed, Amazon had very quick fulfillment, and after Prime two-day it became even better. The Sears…

And Amazon's return policy. I remember specifically buying clothes from an online retailer a few years ago and when things didn't fit, I got charged a 10% restocking fee. I'd mostly bought from Amazon but decided to go outside the box. Sure enough, I went back to Amazon.

When I lived in the UK, I discovered retail shop hours at 9 to 5, except Thursday and Saturday when you have to fight crowds. Also, things were more expensive. So Amazon won again.

All the monopoly complaints aside, the rest of the retail world doesn't compete very well.

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#212

Post by noarchy »

bluGill wrote: post #32
wil421 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Costco is an upscale place to shop? I’ve never seen them lumped together with Whole Foods or even Apple. Edit: Wow I didn’t realize Costco’s profit margin was higher than Whole Foods, Wal Mart and almost a full percent above Kroger’s.

They are. You need to have a good amount of extra money to afford the membership and the cost of buying 6 months of toilet paper in advance. Those are cheap items that you will need, if you are not poor you probably don't even think about it. However when you are poor it doesn't matter if it is cheaper or not to buy in bulk because you don't have the cash to afford it. (you also are unlikely to have the storage space…

Don't know about "upper" class, but definitely middle class. A lot of things at Costco (at least where I live) are only available in organic formats, for example, which jack up the price for no real benefit (imo). The working poor don't usually have the flexibility to do these kinds of things.

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#214

Post by dragonwriter »

melq wrote: post #76
bluGill wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are. You need to have a good amount of extra money to afford the membership and the cost of buying 6 months of toilet paper in advance. Those are cheap items that you will need, if you are not poor you probably don't even think about it. However when you are poor it doesn't matter if it is cheaper or not to buy in bulk because you don't have the cash to afford it. (you also are unlikely to have the storage space…

Membership at Costco is like 60 dollars a year. Not saying it's doable for everyone but its hardly something 'you need to have a good amount of extra money' to afford.

> Membership at Costco is like 60 dollars a year. Not saying it's doable for everyone but its hardly something 'you need to have a good amount of extra money' to afford

If you are poor to the point of relying on public assistance to meet basic needs, an extra $60 up front even if it will pay off over a year means foregoing other essential expenses now.

But the bigger cost in many parts of the country is the space needed for inventory to maximize the benefit of bulk purchasing. Sure it works well for my family, but we live in a decent sized suburban home with an second refrigerator, and a storage closet converted for additional pantry space.

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#215

Post by airstrike »

growlist wrote: post #206
xigency wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought this as well until I heard a counter-point [0] which was very convincing. The reason Amazon is successful is not because you can shop online (from a catalog) and receive items in the mail. The reason Amazon is successful is because you can do those things and receive your items within two days. Before Prime existed, Amazon had very quick fulfillment, and after Prime two-day it became even better. The Sears…

For me it's the speed of Prime, plus the fact I don't have to bother entering my card or PayPal details. It's almost annoying when I can't find what I want on Amazon and have to go elsewhere.

Removing friction is tremendously valuable. Same reason people use Uber even in cities like New York: not having to pay at the end of the ride.

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#216

Post by [deleted] »

wombatpm wrote: post #5

Sears had everything. Global supply chain, check. Top notch distribution operation, check. System and infrastructure to take orders and handling billing, check. Name recognition and established customer base, check. They threw it all away, ending catalog operations in 1993 a year before Amazon.com opened in 1994. They owned part of Prodigy in 1984! Yet somehow thought it was a better move to expand into bigger box re…

[deleted]

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#217

Post by [deleted] »

logfromblammo wrote: post #151
reaperducer wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Buying online and picking up from a store really isn't that advanced of a concept. You're right. Service Merchandise build an empire around it, just by mail or phone instead of computer. Other stores did it, too. JCPenny comes to mind. Even some local and regional chains. Amazon and others think they've invented something. But once again, it's just SV re-inventing something that worked last century.

Amazon introduced the ability to seamlessly and automatically blend counterfeit goods into their supply chain, from sellers that you never heard of before, and may never encounter again.~ But recall that Amazon started with books. The catalog for books is the size of the card catalog that used to be at your library. A row of cabinets, filled with rank and file of drawers, each filled with index cards. One could not s…

[deleted]

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#218

Post by airstrike »

sejordan wrote: post #197
ForHackernews wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As it grows larger, the "Amazon marketplace" is getting more and more filled with garbage knockoff products and fake reviews. There may eventually come a tipping point where they lose user trust.

I feel like every time there is a discussion about Amazon on the Internet, this point is brought up. I spent about $9,000 on Amazon across 139 orders in 2018. I buy a lot on Amazon. I've never had a problem with receiving knockoff products. I don't understand how this can be such a prevalent issue when I've not run into it, given how much I use Amazon. The only thing I can think is that, if I'm buying something expen…

> I'll strictly only purchase items "Sold by: Amazon.com Services, Inc"

Most users don't think to check for that, though. I know my mother-in-law doesn't...

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#219

Post by bpicolo »

CoolGuySteve wrote: post #192
xigency wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought this as well until I heard a counter-point [0] which was very convincing. The reason Amazon is successful is not because you can shop online (from a catalog) and receive items in the mail. The reason Amazon is successful is because you can do those things and receive your items within two days. Before Prime existed, Amazon had very quick fulfillment, and after Prime two-day it became even better. The Sears…

Not to be snarky, but there needs to be a name for selective amnesia when an idea that seems obvious in retrospect is ignored later on. In this case, the thing that made Amazon so great, before Prime existed, was that it had the "Things you might also like" section. AFAIK it was one of the first online stores that used machine learning to recommend new and related items you didn't realize you wanted and to have user…

Is that really a primary growth factor? I've never once acted on an Amazon recommendation, and it's always felt almost entirely useless - "you just bought a vacuum, here's 15 more vacuums just in case you're a vacuum-obsessed lunatic"

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#220

Post by XMPPwocky »

kortilla wrote: post #107
XMPPwocky wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So all executive salaries should be capped at, say, a low six-figure amount, and bonuses should be eliminated? Interesting proposal.

You have to pay the market rate for the people you want. The point is that going above that rate probably won’t get anything more out of them other than maybe retention.

So, more productive / friendly workers don't command a higher wage?
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