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Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

cnbc.com

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Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#551

Post by JohnJamesRambo »

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…

I would wager that had a very tiny impact on the ultimate success of Amazon, more likely you do machine learning and are inflating its importance due to self-involvement with the subject.

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#552

Post by smileysteve »

erickhill wrote: post #3

Sears was my go-to place for tools for years. Then, at some stage, the quality noticeably changed and it started to feel like a cheap knock-off, like what happened to Stanley Tools ages ago. But I did very much appreciate their return-tool policy. I used that a few times. It was a great customer loyalty tactic.

Home depot eroded at this too, as Husky developed similar return a tool policies.

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#553

Post by confiscate »

close04 wrote: post #528
confiscate wrote: post #517

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon worth more than Sears? Can you imagine?

All things are clear with the power of hindsight. But if it were so simple you'd already know which company to throw your money at today and be a billionaire in a decade. Do you?

True, but why laugh at Amazon? What can you possibly gain by picking on the "little guy"?

The reporter is supposed to be an expert in this field. That's why 60 minutes hired him, instead of someone else, for the job. I am sure there was no shortage of applicants who wanted this job.

Why couldn't he be more open-minded and supportive of a startup like Amazon? Instead of constantly laughing at Amazon and Jeff Bezos (like his choice of cars)

So why be a snob? As you said, no one knows what will happen. Why laugh at the little guy? You don't know what's going to happen

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#555

Post by erikpukinskis »

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…

Sometimes having parts of a business already in place actually makes it harder to do something new. The same way tearing a house down and building new is often easier than trying to remodel.

This is why I’m so fascinated to see which carmakers can transition to electric. Lots of people think it’s easy the automakers just don’t feel like it. I’m curious if that’s true or if there’s an inertia thing going on.

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#556

Post by amanaplanacanal »

lostlogin wrote: post #516
samatman wrote: post #514

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In 1999, AMZN peaked ar $80. Two years later it was trading at $10, and didn’t recover until 2007. The interviewer was right; Amazon was over valued.

Or was it radically undervalued in 2001?

What kind of profits were they showing in 2001? I'm not going to look it up, but I'm sure they were negative. There were a lot of people back then who couldn't figure out how Amazon would ever make money when they sold everything at a loss.

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#557

Post by Izkata »

3pt14159 wrote: post #543
konschubert wrote: post #529

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait, I’m confused. This agency that’s consulting for sears sets up a meeting for bill gates to sell his computers to sears? How is that in the interest of sears?

Because in the early 80s nobody understood computers or how individuals at home were going to use them and Sears knew they didn't know. For example, some people thought that computers should be waterproof so you could install them next to your sink in the kitchen so you could use them to help you with recipes. Sound crazy? What's an iPhone? A waterproof computer that helps hundreds of millions with recipes. There wer…

> so you could install them next to your sink in the kitchen so you could use them to help you with recipes.

Yikes, you just reminded me of a TV ad I saw in the late 90s, of a housewife using a device like that. I remember a CRT-style monitor, but it's faded enough that I can't remember any other details.

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#558

Post by slededit »

netcan wrote: post #530
slededit wrote: post #524

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's significantly more information in 2018 or even 2008 to indicate Amazon was worth that valuation. A companies potential has to be adjusted by risk if you want a good valuation, and in 1999 there just wan't enough evidence. This is validated by it dropping dramatically after the bubble popping. In fact they were only saved because he had secured financing mere months before the collapse, had that not happened A…

Only is a big caveat, for the "dotcom" that survived the bust and became the biggest company in the world.

Even if they were established they’d have a tough time getting financing in the .com crash. A bit of luck is always necessary.

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#559

Post by rrdharan »

spurcell93 wrote: post #549
rrdharan wrote: post #491

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Were they wrong though? I'd wager far more credit cards have been stolen via the internet than by eavesdropping?

Absolute numbers don't mean much in this context.

Why not? I’ll happily dictate my credit card number into my phone, heck I’ll throw open my apartment window and loudly yell my credit card number into the street, along with the expiration and CVV2, with zero fear that someone or something will actually be listening and recording it / writing it down.

By contrast I refuse to send my credit card number in an email or post it on a non-SSL site.

Guess which way I’ve only ever had my credit card number stolen?

Re: Sears has another chance to avoid closing down

#560

Post by kd5bjo »

Izkata wrote: post #557
3pt14159 wrote: post #543

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because in the early 80s nobody understood computers or how individuals at home were going to use them and Sears knew they didn't know. For example, some people thought that computers should be waterproof so you could install them next to your sink in the kitchen so you could use them to help you with recipes. Sound crazy? What's an iPhone? A waterproof computer that helps hundreds of millions with recipes. There wer…

> so you could install them next to your sink in the kitchen so you could use them to help you with recipes. Yikes, you just reminded me of a TV ad I saw in the late 90s, of a housewife using a device like that. I remember a CRT-style monitor, but it's faded enough that I can't remember any other details.

In 1969, there was the Honeywell Kitchen Computer: https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/minicomputers/11/...
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