Amazon to Shut All U.S. Pop-Up Stores as It Rethinks Physical Retail Strategy
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Re: Amazon to Shut All U.S. Pop-Up Stores as It Rethinks Physical Retail Strategy
#2Here is a link to the non paywall version: https://outline.com/LXTJCD (the HN "web" link didn't work for me)
Re: Amazon to Shut All U.S. Pop-Up Stores as It Rethinks Physical Retail Strategy
#3I like the moves all of these brick and mortar stores are making online. Walmart, etc. They are slowly but surely catching up, so much so that I this Amazon dominating everything is not guaranteed. Walmart and other brick and mortar stores might develop strategies to effectively compete... which will be great for consumers to be able to get everything online delivered or store pickup... with lots of deals offered. That all seems positive. Amazon dominating to me seems like a negative.
Re: Amazon to Shut All U.S. Pop-Up Stores as It Rethinks Physical Retail Strategy
#4Ah, so they are shutting these down but adding new 4-star stores and more Amazon Go stores. I guess the real takeaway is that those stores were performing better?
It is interesting to see them doing A-B testing at this level. I'm sure it happens regularly with other retailers, too, though.
Re: Amazon to Shut All U.S. Pop-Up Stores as It Rethinks Physical Retail Strategy
#5I like the moves all of these brick and mortar stores are making online. Walmart, etc. They are slowly but surely catching up, so much so that I this Amazon dominating everything is not guaranteed. Walmart and other brick and mortar stores might develop strategies to effectively compete... which will be great for consumers to be able to get everything online delivered or store pickup... with lots of deals offered. Th…
Very good points. I concur. WalMart's website is very poorly designed compared to amazon, but they generally have the same goods at the same price. WalMart will offer free ship-to-store that I can get faster than waiting for amazon free shipping, and critically, WalMart allows no-hassle returns of internet purchases at the local return counter. Amazon's return policy is good, but it's more of a hassle to deal with boxing, labeling, and shipping than just dropping off. And of course while I'm at a WalMart I'll grab other things as well, which doesn't happen at the UPS counter. So I assume others have had the same experience and that WalMart share of the online market will continue to grow, particularly if they can move their website to the same experience that amazon provides (a steep task). Their logistics and warehousing backend appears to be at least as good as Amazon's, possibly better, though that's an inference from just observing the customer end of it and not based on inside knowledge.
Re: Amazon to Shut All U.S. Pop-Up Stores as It Rethinks Physical Retail Strategy
#6Note that they are only shutting down pop-up stores that feature (it sounds like) all Amazon products like Kindle, etc. NOT their cashierless "Go" stores. It sounds like they figured out that dedicated physical locations for Amazon products don't make sense like it does for Apple, etc.
Re: Amazon to Shut All U.S. Pop-Up Stores as It Rethinks Physical Retail Strategy
#7I like the moves all of these brick and mortar stores are making online. Walmart, etc. They are slowly but surely catching up, so much so that I this Amazon dominating everything is not guaranteed. Walmart and other brick and mortar stores might develop strategies to effectively compete... which will be great for consumers to be able to get everything online delivered or store pickup... with lots of deals offered. Th…
Very good points. I concur. WalMart's website is very poorly designed compared to amazon, but they generally have the same goods at the same price. WalMart will offer free ship-to-store that I can get faster than waiting for amazon free shipping, and critically, WalMart allows no-hassle returns of internet purchases at the local return counter. Amazon's return policy is good, but it's more of a hassle to deal with bo…
Amazon offers drop off returns at their retail locations as well. Also at their lockers, but you do have to box it for the locker.
Re: Amazon to Shut All U.S. Pop-Up Stores as It Rethinks Physical Retail Strategy
#8I like the moves all of these brick and mortar stores are making online. Walmart, etc. They are slowly but surely catching up, so much so that I this Amazon dominating everything is not guaranteed. Walmart and other brick and mortar stores might develop strategies to effectively compete... which will be great for consumers to be able to get everything online delivered or store pickup... with lots of deals offered. Th…
Very good points. I concur. WalMart's website is very poorly designed compared to amazon, but they generally have the same goods at the same price. WalMart will offer free ship-to-store that I can get faster than waiting for amazon free shipping, and critically, WalMart allows no-hassle returns of internet purchases at the local return counter. Amazon's return policy is good, but it's more of a hassle to deal with bo…
All good points. I think that Amazon sees this issue and working with retailers (Kohls) to set up locations that you can drop items without having to deal with the boxing, shipping etc.
It will be interesting to see how to two bridge the gaps from opposite sides. Amazon moving from online to physical | Walmart moving from physical to online
Re: Amazon to Shut All U.S. Pop-Up Stores as It Rethinks Physical Retail Strategy
#9I like the moves all of these brick and mortar stores are making online. Walmart, etc. They are slowly but surely catching up, so much so that I this Amazon dominating everything is not guaranteed. Walmart and other brick and mortar stores might develop strategies to effectively compete... which will be great for consumers to be able to get everything online delivered or store pickup... with lots of deals offered. Th…
Walmart in particular seems well-positioned to pivot to competing with Amazon in retail in the US. They maintain what are essentially warehouse facilities within a short drive of a huge percentage of the population. Outcompeting Amazon in terms of a pleasant and trust-building web-shopping experience should be achievable--Amazon's UX has been getting worse over time, and achieving truly fast delivery outside of huge urban areas should be more possible for Walmart than anyone else. That said, I don't think Walmart is ready to be anywhere near bold enough to transform their assets into a true Amazon competitor because it would necessarily involve taking big risks and scaling back on the formula that has gotten them to where they are.
So I'm not hopeful, but I keep thinking someday some new CEO might just make it happen.
Re: Amazon to Shut All U.S. Pop-Up Stores as It Rethinks Physical Retail Strategy
#10Here is a link to the non paywall version: https://outline.com/LXTJCD (the HN "web" link didn't work for me)
Not all heroes wear capes, but you probably should