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Amazon permanently shuts down Prime Pantry

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Re: Amazon permanently shuts down Prime Pantry

#21
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There were a lot of internet grocery stores that sold nonperishables in the days before Instacart. It was useful for people in rural locations that weren’t very mobile... and still is for the people who don’t live where fresh grocery delivery is available.

It might be better for society to help the orderly shutdown and consolidation of those areas towards communities dense enough to have a functional local economy. This would integrate well with new New Deal style programs where people are helped to migrate to jobs that enrich society and those working; and possibly recapture the former community areas as nature reserves or other non-housing lands.

Or just let them live their lives where they want to live them?

Re: Amazon permanently shuts down Prime Pantry

#22
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There were a lot of internet grocery stores that sold nonperishables in the days before Instacart. It was useful for people in rural locations that weren’t very mobile... and still is for the people who don’t live where fresh grocery delivery is available.

It might be better for society to help the orderly shutdown and consolidation of those areas towards communities dense enough to have a functional local economy. This would integrate well with new New Deal style programs where people are helped to migrate to jobs that enrich society and those working; and possibly recapture the former community areas as nature reserves or other non-housing lands.

That'll last all of about 5 minutes, until some granny goes on the local TV news talking about how she's been forced out of the home she's lived in for the last 70 years.

Re: Amazon permanently shuts down Prime Pantry

#23
post #20
post #5

Good riddance. Most people just want to buy mundane household items without having to solve knapsack problems.

I think it was a product from a different era. When Prime Pantry launched, Amazon hadn't acquired Whole Foods, and they didn't have a story for last-mile delivery yet. So they had to ship your order from a warehouse, and the only way to do that profitably on low-margin grocery items was to batch them up into a large order in a box of uniform dimensions. The fact that they no longer need to do this speaks to how far A…

Among the growing list of documentaries I would love to watch, but have yet to find, Amazon's logistlics solutions is one at the top. Would be very cool to get a deep look at how all the various types of orders are handled.

Re: Amazon permanently shuts down Prime Pantry

#24

I had said many times Amazon had too many ways to order groceries: 1. Amazon.com 2. Amazon Prime Pantry 3. Amazon Fresh 4. Whole Foods via Amazon Prime Now 5. Amazon items via Amazon Prime Now* *I never figured out what exactly this was. Was it just Amazon.com listing reproduced in the Prime Now app? Was it Amazon Fresh and/or Prime Pantry items? Was it some other set of items?

Amazon Prime Now was intended to be same day delivery. Amazon Fresh usually wasn't.

AFAIK when you order whole foods, someone goes to the store and picks it up for you. They don't have nearly as accurate inventory tracking as Amazon Fresh/Prime Now do. If you order things from Prime Now, they will arrive guaranteed. (well, 90% guaranteed)

Re: Amazon permanently shuts down Prime Pantry

#25
post #12

I had said many times Amazon had too many ways to order groceries: 1. Amazon.com 2. Amazon Prime Pantry 3. Amazon Fresh 4. Whole Foods via Amazon Prime Now 5. Amazon items via Amazon Prime Now* *I never figured out what exactly this was. Was it just Amazon.com listing reproduced in the Prime Now app? Was it Amazon Fresh and/or Prime Pantry items? Was it some other set of items?

Amazon Prime Now is basically direct courier delivery from the closest warehouse to your house. the app only presented things that were readily available in your area.

But whats weird is sometimes inventory would be different depending on if you were on the primenow website, or browsing amazon.com for same day or fresh. Sometimes prices were even different - like items would be on sale from primenow but full price on amazon.com.

I very much miss prime now restaurants though. It was the best, no extra fees or anything other than a tip.

Re: Amazon permanently shuts down Prime Pantry

#26
post #12

I had said many times Amazon had too many ways to order groceries: 1. Amazon.com 2. Amazon Prime Pantry 3. Amazon Fresh 4. Whole Foods via Amazon Prime Now 5. Amazon items via Amazon Prime Now* *I never figured out what exactly this was. Was it just Amazon.com listing reproduced in the Prime Now app? Was it Amazon Fresh and/or Prime Pantry items? Was it some other set of items?

Amazon Prime Now is basically direct courier delivery from the closest warehouse to your house. the app only presented things that were readily available in your area.

Warehouse? I thought it was a Whole Foods only thing.

Re: Amazon permanently shuts down Prime Pantry

#27
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There were a lot of internet grocery stores that sold nonperishables in the days before Instacart. It was useful for people in rural locations that weren’t very mobile... and still is for the people who don’t live where fresh grocery delivery is available.

It might be better for society to help the orderly shutdown and consolidation of those areas towards communities dense enough to have a functional local economy. This would integrate well with new New Deal style programs where people are helped to migrate to jobs that enrich society and those working; and possibly recapture the former community areas as nature reserves or other non-housing lands.

Many people naturally do this. The "I can't wait to grow up and get out of here" trope is universal to basically every small town in America.

Many people with the means to do so also like to leave the city to move to small town America. There's really nothing wrong with either of these life experiences. People's needs are varied, both by person, and by the stage of their life. Living in an economic hotspot is more important to some people than it is to others.

Re: Amazon permanently shuts down Prime Pantry

#28
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it was a product from a different era. When Prime Pantry launched, Amazon hadn't acquired Whole Foods, and they didn't have a story for last-mile delivery yet. So they had to ship your order from a warehouse, and the only way to do that profitably on low-margin grocery items was to batch them up into a large order in a box of uniform dimensions. The fact that they no longer need to do this speaks to how far A…

Among the growing list of documentaries I would love to watch, but have yet to find, Amazon's logistlics solutions is one at the top. Would be very cool to get a deep look at how all the various types of orders are handled.

This is more of a capturing of current state than a full blown documentary. I still learned a lot about amazon’s logistics.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=2qanMpnYsjk

Re: Amazon permanently shuts down Prime Pantry

#30
post #3

It was a strange offering from Amazon. They had a very limited selection coupled with poorly boxed items meant that I only tried it twice before giving up on it. All the items in the second and last order I received were thrown in a single box with no effort to protect the contents from each other. I get the feeling this was a common occurrence, because the interest in it amongst my friends vanished almost as quickly…

I made the mistake of ordering both crisps and bottled juice in one Pantry order. I have no idea why they don't algorithmically structure what to pack together, but I don't think I've ever had a full order arrive in non-broken state from pantry.
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