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Amazon scooped up data from its own sellers to launch competing products

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Re: Amazon scooped up data from its own sellers to launch competing products

#51

Post by netsharc »

oehpr wrote: post #28
mensetmanusman wrote: post #13

Based on how much Amazon will grow during this pandemic, I wouldn’t be surprised if they are cut up by government to reduce their power to destroy any competitor.

has there been any antitrust activity in the united states recently? Like... past 10 years? Particularly given the current administrations disposition, I think pinning your hopes to anti-trust is like financially planning around lottery tickets.

But Trump hates Bezos because Bezos owns Washington Post, which publishes articles critical of Trump.

I'd imagine if the administration goes through with the antitrust investigations, Bezos would just show up with a suitcase saying "Here's my offer to your 2020 reelection campaign" (not literally, he could put it through a Super PAC) and Trump would say "Art of the deal!" and that threat would disappear...

Or Bezos could double down and get a law firm very rich trying to prove that the suit would be unfair because it's driven by the president's little ego...

Re: Amazon scooped up data from its own sellers to launch competing products

#53

Post by shiftpgdn »

ehnto wrote: post #18
TheKarateKid wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many Amazon sellers only sell on Amazon, or have a large majority of their business sales there. This is equivalent to having insight to almost your entire business. Most brands at Walmart and other stores are sold many other places.

There are many businesses who are 100% dependent on Amazon as a platform and Google as an acquisition stream. If you want to break out and sell on your own online platform, you're still dependent on Google, be it through search or advertising. I would love to hear of consumer facing (B2C) online businesses who are successfully operating without any Google or Amazon dependencies to see if it's even possible in the cur…

I own a SAAS product that does well into the six figures ARR and we have spent exactly $100 on Google ads (which proved they are worthless.)

Our sales are from word of mouth and direct marketing.

Re: Amazon scooped up data from its own sellers to launch competing products

#54

Post by xer0x »

sct202 wrote: post #21
Operyl wrote: post #5

I thought this was common knowledge. Don’t the chains like Walmart do the exact same things?

It's a little bit different because Amazon claims to be a marketplace at the same time as curating its own specific product offering. It would be kind of like if a mall required all transactions from independent stores in the mall to go thru the malls servers and then the mall started its own product lines to sell based on that data.

That amazon does has been common knowledge since Amazon Basics first appeared. Obviously, Amazon is enjoying the enviable position enjoying being the mall, the payment processor, and everything else.

Re: Amazon scooped up data from its own sellers to launch competing products

#56

Post by ThrowawayR2 »

mywittyname wrote: post #45
jadeddrag wrote: post #7

Is this any different than what other stores do with their own store brands?

Because it amounts to IP theft. It's one thing to see that unbleached toilet paper is selling well, and getting a supplier to sell you a store brand version. But it's completely different to see that a particular office stand is selling very well, determine that it has a 20% margin, and have someone build an identical product which you sell 5% margin. If you look at many Amazon Basics products, they are clear ripoffs…

> "It's one thing to see that unbleached toilet paper is selling well, and getting a supplier to sell you a store brand version. But it's completely different to see that a particular office stand is selling very well, determine that it has a 20% margin, and have someone build an identical product which you sell 5% margin."

Those two sound like the exact same thing to me. There is no real difference.

It even happens between electronics manufacturers; you'll see a company noticing a competitor's product is successful, dissecting it to figure out the manufacturing costs and estimated margin, and tailoring its product line to provide a competitive product.

(Aside from all that, I though HNers didn't believe in IP?)

Re: Amazon scooped up data from its own sellers to launch competing products

#57

Post by hlmencken »

whoisjuan wrote: post #17

Stating the obvious I guess. All retailers do this and create their own white-label brands to squeeze profit from well-performing categories. Target, for instance, is very upfront about it and they have like a gazillion white-label brands that compete in hundreds of categories, which makes it very gray for the customer. Does anyone really think that any retailer launches a competing product in a category without look…

I really don't think Target is that upfront. How am I supposed to know Mossimo and Goodfellow are Target brands. I do however understand that Kroger groceries are made by the kroger store.

Re: Amazon scooped up data from its own sellers to launch competing products

#58

Post by olivermarks »

Anti trust and anti monopoly oversight is urgently needed. Amazon is growing like a rapidy mutating weed on coronapocalypse fallout and the centralization is rapidly getting out of control imo. https://slopeofhope.com/2020/04/locking-in-amazon-gains.html

Re: Amazon scooped up data from its own sellers to launch competing products

#59

Post by dagnabbit »

timdev2 wrote: post #44
graeme wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every retail store does this.

Many retail stores do this to their vendors. Amazon does it to it's "sellers", which are really just a category of "customers". As an amazon seller, you pay for the privilege of selling through their platform.

Retail stores charge manufacturers for shelf space. It's often called a slotting fee.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slotting_fee

Re: Amazon scooped up data from its own sellers to launch competing products

#60

Post by acwan93 »

Sometimes I wonder if Shopify’s long-term plan is to do something like this.

It's probably the leading direct-to-consumer platform out there right now, it’s touted sometimes as the anti-Amazon. The leading D2C brands I’ve seen are on there (Allbirds, Atoms, Untuckit) as well as random drop shippers. Shopify is also expanding into a fulfillment network too: https://www.shopify.com/fulfillment

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