Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#181

Post by azakai » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 6:52 PM UTC

Diederich wrote: post #41

Help requested. My wife, who is in her 50s, is immunocompromised, and she also has a history of fast escalating and difficult to treat respiratory problems. We are and have been (for the past 32 days) treating this bug very carefully. If she catches it, she has a very good chance of not surviving it. Our son and I are at less risk, but we can easily bring this bug home. We've been having more and more trouble getting…

Aside from Whole Foods, Amazon also has Amazon Prime Now (go to https://primenow.amazon.com/ and pick store: Amazon). They have a lot of staple foods there, and sometimes they have more availability than Whole Foods. (I'm guessing there might be different bottlenecks at Whole Foods stores and Amazon warehouses.)

Another option are restaurant deliveries. Those are easy to get (they're happy to get the orders!). Up to you how you feel about the risk, but all the experts I've read say you can reduce the danger there to something comparable to grocery delivery (mainly to discard the original packages and you can also reheat the food).

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#182

Post by Waterluvian » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 6:55 PM UTC

My wife orders from walmart.ca often. It's generally good but still feels lower quality than Amazon (which has its own issues, yes). Last week they shipped an entirely wrong item. So my kids aren't getting their Duplo set for Easter.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#183

Post by Someone1234 » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 6:56 PM UTC

One reason previously for using Amazon was recommendations for example their "Customers who viewed this item also viewed: [list of alternative items]." Unfortunately the recommendations boxes like the "Customers who viewed this item also viewed" have been completely removed, with no real replacement except "sponsored."

I don't consider sponsored ads a replacement for actual recommendations based on real people's buying behavior. Obviously Amazon wants us to though so they can double-dip. Personally I am buying less, not more, because I cannot find things.

But maybe it is more profitable to Amazon for us to spend longer looking, more sponsor spot revenue. Talk about perverse incentives, make more money from a slower shopping experience.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#184

Post by caymanjim » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 6:58 PM UTC

rkagerer wrote: post #178

caymanjim wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

newegg.com is great. They primarily sell computers and office equipment, but if I'm buying that stuff, it's my go-to. Fast delivery, fantastic customer service. If something is defective, they'll send you a replacement with a return shipping label, no questions asked. Been using them for nearly 20 years without a single complaint.

10 years ago I used Newegg a ton, but with third party items now mixed into their store, I find shopping there a bit more of a dice roll.

Amazon suffers from that as well. I'm loath to buy anything from Amazon, Newegg, or any other retailer when it comes from a third party seller. As far as I know, that's always indicated on the product page. They don't hide it, but they don't aggressively inform you either.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#185

Post by beamatronic » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 6:58 PM UTC

jakearmitage wrote: post #72

ebg13 wrote: post #23

I tried ordering some things from Home Depot the other day, and they silently cancelled half of my order while still charging me the same amount for delivery from the store and while saying that some things can only be delivered from a warehouse and that some things can only be delivered from a specific store and that delivery from each store has a $45 minimum purchase before they'll even consider delivery despite th…

HomeDepot's ecommerce is a joke. Not only the shopping experience is poor, they treat logistics as if they were doing you a favor. And, on top of all that, you get damaged items. I made 7 purchases and all 7, in different periods of time, had to be returned or replaced. Same for Lowe's. There's a reason people shop on Amazon. Other than BestBuy, no other retailer "gets" ecommerce.

Target is okay although I often get cosmetically damaged packaging.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#186

Post by kube-system » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 6:58 PM UTC

cpascal wrote: post #114

jakearmitage wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HomeDepot's ecommerce is a joke. Not only the shopping experience is poor, they treat logistics as if they were doing you a favor. And, on top of all that, you get damaged items. I made 7 purchases and all 7, in different periods of time, had to be returned or replaced. Same for Lowe's. There's a reason people shop on Amazon. Other than BestBuy, no other retailer "gets" ecommerce.

> Other than BestBuy, no other retailer "gets" ecommerce Target.com is a pretty solid experience. Walmart.com is also surprisingly good. Although I'm sure people can provide horror stories for both retailers.

I've personally had a lot of issues with Walmart.com.

Their inventory data seems to be a bit messy, I've seen a lot of product names/images/descriptions that are clearly messed up, and on more than a few occasions, I've received a single item when the listing said it was a multi-pack. Also, some of the inventory counts are a bit weird -- sometimes an item will show in-stock on the product page, but not in the cart, at the same time.

In the past I had a lot of issues with their shipping, but they seem to have mostly fixed those. Stuff like those huge stickers over important parts of the product, or improper packing.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#187

Post by beamatronic » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 6:59 PM UTC

rkagerer wrote: post #178

caymanjim wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

newegg.com is great. They primarily sell computers and office equipment, but if I'm buying that stuff, it's my go-to. Fast delivery, fantastic customer service. If something is defective, they'll send you a replacement with a return shipping label, no questions asked. Been using them for nearly 20 years without a single complaint.

10 years ago I used Newegg a ton, but with third party items now mixed into their store, I find shopping there a bit more of a dice roll.

100 percent this. I dropped NewEgg when they added third party sellers.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#188

Post by racnid » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 6:59 PM UTC

mauvehaus wrote: post #175

jakearmitage wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HomeDepot's ecommerce is a joke. Not only the shopping experience is poor, they treat logistics as if they were doing you a favor. And, on top of all that, you get damaged items. I made 7 purchases and all 7, in different periods of time, had to be returned or replaced. Same for Lowe's. There's a reason people shop on Amazon. Other than BestBuy, no other retailer "gets" ecommerce.

I beg to differ. Rock Auto is where it's at for auto parts. The website is ugly as hammered shit, but it's fast, shows you the options grouped by rough quality level (economy/you cheapskate, daily driver, performance, etc), shows you what part to select so it ships from the same warehouse as the parts already in your cart and saves you shipping, and returns are painless (disclaimer: I've only ever done returns for co…

Their website is one of the clearest and easiest to navigate parts website I've ever come across. I just wish there was an equivalent for motorcycles.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#189

Post by solotronics » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 7:01 PM UTC

mauvehaus wrote: post #175

jakearmitage wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HomeDepot's ecommerce is a joke. Not only the shopping experience is poor, they treat logistics as if they were doing you a favor. And, on top of all that, you get damaged items. I made 7 purchases and all 7, in different periods of time, had to be returned or replaced. Same for Lowe's. There's a reason people shop on Amazon. Other than BestBuy, no other retailer "gets" ecommerce.

I beg to differ. Rock Auto is where it's at for auto parts. The website is ugly as hammered shit, but it's fast, shows you the options grouped by rough quality level (economy/you cheapskate, daily driver, performance, etc), shows you what part to select so it ships from the same warehouse as the parts already in your cart and saves you shipping, and returns are painless (disclaimer: I've only ever done returns for co…

I like NAPA/Oreilly where you can see whats in a store and have them set the parts aside for you so they are there when you get there.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#190

Post by Mountain_Skies » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 7:02 PM UTC

complianceowl wrote: post #16

The HN is a very intelligent community, so I'd like to hear your thoughts out loud here. Do you guys think supply chains will move closer to home because of this pandemic? I'm hearing every narrative under the sun right now: "This will establish globalism even more", "No! This marks the abrupt END of globalism." What are your thoughts?

Only with government intervention. If company A switches to more expensive domestic manufacturing while company B stays on the other side of the planet, B can undercut A. Next time there is a supply disruption, A will be able to beat out B, but A might be out of business by then. Government intervention would be required to even the field, maybe through tariffs or importation prohibitions.

An alternative would be for company A to appeal to the public (or business customers) to buy from them at a higher price because it helps keep society from being disrupted by supply chain interruptions. That might work short term but cheap prices seem to win out over concerns of societal wide benefits in the long run.