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Amazon to shut down its Amazon Restaurants business in the U.S.

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Re: Amazon to shut down its Amazon Restaurants business in the U.S.

#41

Post by ForHackernews »

el_programmador wrote: post #28
trevyn wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just as there are already “enough” physical cars, there is also already enough physical restaurant infrastructure, so today it’s more a question of efficient utilization. What Uber Eats is doing in this space is really smart: Keeping track of local food search keywords, and reaching out to local restaurants saying “Hey, if you provided such-and-such food items at such-and-such time of day in your area, we think you’d…

But a "restaurant on wheels" is a idea that will be truly profitable, at least in theory! Its true that restaurants abound in localities today but mobility of people (and their eating preferences) from one location to another has also increased. Restaurants which are profitable today may not be tomorrow. A restaurant on wheels can easily adapt to changing demands by constantly moving on from low demand areas to high…

"restaurant on wheels"

Have you reinvented the taco truck?

Re: Amazon to shut down its Amazon Restaurants business in the U.S.

#42

Post by masklinn »

Animats wrote: post #16

Amazon had a restaurant business? The funny thing is, Amazon probably could do a good delivery restaurant business. There are already many "delivery only restaurants"[1] Uber Eats encourages others to start them. But Amazon, unlike Uber, is capable of building physical infrastructure. The future of this is "food fulfillment centers", large warehouse spaces which house various specialty kitchens. Common functions, suc…

> There are already many "delivery only restaurants"[1]

"Delivery-only restaurant" sounds self-contradictory, a restaurant is by definition a place where you can eat.

These sounds more like takeouts, or traiteurs.

Re: Amazon to shut down its Amazon Restaurants business in the U.S.

#43

Post by solidasparagus »

alaskamiller wrote: post #39
Animats wrote: post #16

Amazon had a restaurant business? The funny thing is, Amazon probably could do a good delivery restaurant business. There are already many "delivery only restaurants"[1] Uber Eats encourages others to start them. But Amazon, unlike Uber, is capable of building physical infrastructure. The future of this is "food fulfillment centers", large warehouse spaces which house various specialty kitchens. Common functions, suc…

Yeah it did, and restaurants actually put up stickers for it on their doors! What you're describing is what Travis Kalanick bought and have been building in LA and San Jose since last year. There are other commissary kitchens that's now doubling as virtual kitchens with half a dozen brands sharing utility, equipment and even staff. I'll do you even one better, here's the real future in less than three years: Restaura…

I'm doubtful. No service, low-cost restaurant setups are not a new thing (quick service/counter-based) and full-service restaurants are still everywhere.

I don't know if that's because profit isn't overwhelmingly the most important driver when running a restaurant or because restaurants make most profit off of aspects that don't translate to counter-service/delivery, such as drinks. But I would expect these type of virtual restaurants to complement existing restaurants, not meaningfully replace them.

Re: Amazon to shut down its Amazon Restaurants business in the U.S.

#44

Post by mcrae »

csallen wrote: post #36
sametmax wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mac donald's seems to do exactly that.

McDonald's delivers?

Yeah, and it is like the best delivery service ever. In urban areas in Asia, it is always less than 20 minutes. Occasionally it arrives in less than 10 minutes. Which is as close to instant as is possible. Mind blasting.

I don't even like the food but find myself ordering as it is just too convenient.

Re: Amazon to shut down its Amazon Restaurants business in the U.S.

#46

Post by [deleted] »

prostoalex wrote: post #34
ralph84 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Theoretically agents could do these things, but most don't. They want deals to close. Giving you reasons not to buy doesn't close deals. If it turns out you don't like the house they'll be happy to sell it for you later.

It probably varies by the agent, but I have had good experience with a real estate agent being on the buying side. His reasoning was that the seller's agent was on the clock to close the deal on that one property he got assigned, whereas the buyer's agent would make roughly same amount of money on any property I would end up purchasing, so he had no reason to pressure me into closing.

[deleted]

Re: Amazon to shut down its Amazon Restaurants business in the U.S.

#47

Post by dagw »

thatoneuser wrote: post #21
Animats wrote: post #16

Amazon had a restaurant business? The funny thing is, Amazon probably could do a good delivery restaurant business. There are already many "delivery only restaurants"[1] Uber Eats encourages others to start them. But Amazon, unlike Uber, is capable of building physical infrastructure. The future of this is "food fulfillment centers", large warehouse spaces which house various specialty kitchens. Common functions, suc…

Hm kind of reminds me of Ikea's food racket. Actually I'm sitting here trying to think of why that wouldn't work but I honestly can't. Cool idea!

What is "Ikea's food racket"?

Re: Amazon to shut down its Amazon Restaurants business in the U.S.

#48

Post by chrisseaton »

bobthepanda wrote: post #38
hbosch wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you might be partially on to something here; generally the idea being that food delivery is essentially commoditized and Amazon is uniquely suited to thrive in commoditized industries with their vast infrastructural advantages. They do have Whole Foods and Amazon Go, which both supply ready-to-eat foods along with meal kits. It would be a minor logistical challenge to simply start preparing their own meal kit…

The main problem is that kitchens operate with dirt cheap labor costs. In a market like New York, all those cheap hole in the walls are paying their workers cash under the table and running with razor thin margins. It’s one thing to target a cushy market like bookstores, but restaurants are cutthroat, and on top of that meal kit customers are fickle.

> a cushy market like bookstores

Haven’t book stores been in a perilous position for decades?

Re: Amazon to shut down its Amazon Restaurants business in the U.S.

#49

Post by chrisseaton »

ForHackernews wrote: post #41
el_programmador wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But a "restaurant on wheels" is a idea that will be truly profitable, at least in theory! Its true that restaurants abound in localities today but mobility of people (and their eating preferences) from one location to another has also increased. Restaurants which are profitable today may not be tomorrow. A restaurant on wheels can easily adapt to changing demands by constantly moving on from low demand areas to high…

"restaurant on wheels" Have you reinvented the taco truck?

Why specifically tacos?

Re: Amazon to shut down its Amazon Restaurants business in the U.S.

#50

Post by chrisseaton »

hbosch wrote: post #27
llamataboot wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does the collusion work? Just curious since it seems like such an inefficient market (our realtor was a good friend of ours, he /did/ have good local market knowledge and things to say, but no way did he have to do more than 4 or 5 hours of work total for us...)

I thought about this a lot during our home buying process. Our agent, too, wasn't asked to do much... because we found the house we wanted online, and had our financing, so the agent didn't have to show us any houses or help us along in any way. She just submitted our offer and that was that. I have heard that realtors, like for instance car dealers, simply have a vested interest in middleman-ing the inventory by way…

> so the agent didn't have to show us any houses or help us along in any way. She just submitted our offer and that was that.

Why didn’t you submit it yourself and save all that money?

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