How Amazon’s ambitious new push for same-day delivery will destroy local retail • Hacker News Board

Re: How Amazon’s ambitious new push for same-day delivery will destroy local retail

#91

Post by oinksoft » Thu, Jul 12, 2012, 1:57 AM UTC

eswangren wrote: post #81

AncientPC wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect this is a uniquely American thing. Similar to Dell's failed entrance into Asia, Americans are uniquely content with purchasing plenty of merchandise without ever physically examining the product.

Why wOuld I feel the need to inspect a book before buying it? I am working under the assumption that no pages will be missing. It's worked out fine thus far. You do realize that purchasing items over the Internet has been working well for some time now, right?

I like to flip a book open that I'm considering at a store to random sections. Not one of 20 pre-selected pages offered in some online shop, but just random places, so I can see if it's my speed. This has saved me from purchasing many (seemingly) awful works.

Re: How Amazon’s ambitious new push for same-day delivery will destroy local retail

#92

Post by mseebach » Thu, Jul 12, 2012, 1:59 AM UTC

greghinch wrote: post #87

eswangren wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why wOuld I feel the need to inspect a book before buying it? I am working under the assumption that no pages will be missing. It's worked out fine thus far. You do realize that purchasing items over the Internet has been working well for some time now, right?

You've obviously not tried purchasing things in a 3rd world market, such as in China

You're failing to account for the fairly sizable chunk of the world that's both not the US and not the third world. Such as Germany, where people do seem to prefer physically inspecting items.

Re: How Amazon’s ambitious new push for same-day delivery will destroy local retail

#93

Post by ori_b » Thu, Jul 12, 2012, 1:59 AM UTC

When Amazon lets me physically try out the feel of things while browsing them, see how well built a tool is, or how a piece of clothing fits, it might have a chance of killing local retail.

Until then, I like to see which pants fit best, which knife is most comfortable in my hand, which tablet is most responsive. Yes, if I already know what I want, I'll go to Amazon. But if I'm not entirely sure and I want to compare things, I'll go to a local store.

Re: How Amazon’s ambitious new push for same-day delivery will destroy local retail

#94

Post by cglee » Thu, Jul 12, 2012, 2:02 AM UTC

wheels wrote: post #54

Amazon has been doing this in parts of Germany since 2009. The results haven't been nearly as dramatic as the article predicts. As others have indicated, the limiting factor isn't so much speed of delivery as the inclination to physically inspect items before buying them. That said, Zappos, now a part of Amazon, has succeeded in doing that in one of the markets that tends the most towards such. Even so, there are sti…

When Zappos first came out I thought they'd tank. I purchase new basketball/running shoes every 6months, and never ever make a new purchase without trying it on. Playing basketball or running with an even slightly uncomfortable shoe can lead to blistering, back problems, ankle sprains, etc.

But my gf at the time thought it was brilliant. What I learned was that a lot of women's shoes are purchased based on anything except comfort. The quality can be shoddy, the wear can cause excruciating pain, yet some top brands sell for hundreds and even thousands a pair. Swing by the Nordstrom's women's shoe dept sometime and take a look at the quality of build. Eavesdrop a bit and take inventory of the questions the clients ask about. (Zappos is started by a bunch of ex-Nordy folks).

To this day I've only purchased 1 pair of shoes on Zappos, and that's after I had bought it previously at the dept store (New Balance 993, imo best shoes for walking/running in case you're wondering).

Re: How Amazon’s ambitious new push for same-day delivery will destroy local retail

#95

Post by ciupicri » Thu, Jul 12, 2012, 2:05 AM UTC

eswangren wrote: post #81

AncientPC wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect this is a uniquely American thing. Similar to Dell's failed entrance into Asia, Americans are uniquely content with purchasing plenty of merchandise without ever physically examining the product.

Why wOuld I feel the need to inspect a book before buying it? I am working under the assumption that no pages will be missing. It's worked out fine thus far. You do realize that purchasing items over the Internet has been working well for some time now, right?

Purchasing from the Internet works fine until you have problems. Here in Romania you can't inspect the contents of the package until you sign for its delivery. Then if it's broken you get to keep the pieces, unless the merchant is nice. Of course, there's also the option of arguing with them, but it doesn't guarantee anything.

I bought a couple of years ago an LCD monitors from today's Romanian Amazon wanna-be and they assured me that if the monitor has any broken pixels I can have it replaced. The next day after the delivery, I discovered I had 1 broken pixel. I called them back only to find out that they can replace it only if it has 3 or 4 broken pixels as specified by some ISO standard. After this, I regretted that I didn't buy the one that I saw in a regular store and worked fine.

Re: How Amazon’s ambitious new push for same-day delivery will destroy local retail

#96

Post by mseebach » Thu, Jul 12, 2012, 2:05 AM UTC

> Physical retailers have long argued that once Amazon plays fairly on taxes, the company wouldn’t look like such a great deal to most consumers.

I love the audacity of "If you can't beat them, find some other way to beat them."

Re: How Amazon’s ambitious new push for same-day delivery will destroy local retail

#97

Post by arjunnarayan » Thu, Jul 12, 2012, 2:07 AM UTC

cglee wrote: post #94

wheels wrote: post #54

Amazon has been doing this in parts of Germany since 2009. The results haven't been nearly as dramatic as the article predicts. As others have indicated, the limiting factor isn't so much speed of delivery as the inclination to physically inspect items before buying them. That said, Zappos, now a part of Amazon, has succeeded in doing that in one of the markets that tends the most towards such. Even so, there are sti…

When Zappos first came out I thought they'd tank. I purchase new basketball/running shoes every 6months, and never ever make a new purchase without trying it on. Playing basketball or running with an even slightly uncomfortable shoe can lead to blistering, back problems, ankle sprains, etc. But my gf at the time thought it was brilliant. What I learned was that a lot of women's shoes are purchased based on anything e…

Yes. The build quality of women's shoes is astoundingly bad. Sometimes I look at them and they literally feel like glued on piece of leather, pretty on the outside, and nothing more.

It's interesting how two different markets have developed (men's shoes and women's shoes) that have such different parameters. Men's shoes have outstanding build quality --- to the point where a good pair of quality shoes gets resoled multiple times. Do women ever resole shoes?

Re: How Amazon’s ambitious new push for same-day delivery will destroy local retail

#98

Post by fsckin » Thu, Jul 12, 2012, 2:09 AM UTC

Amazon failed to collect/remit ~270M in sales tax in Texas and has owed millions for years. So what did the state of Texas do about it?

They struck a deal to erase the 270M owed, as long as Amazon starts collecting sales tax starting 7/1, create 2000 jobs and invest 200M in Texas. They were likely already planning more infrastructure in Texas, but threatened to reverse course and pull out of the state entirely.

The way I see it, Amazon bluffed the state of Texas to the tune of 270 million dollars and all I might get out of it is next day delivery?

I'll take what I can get, I guess.

Re: How Amazon’s ambitious new push for same-day delivery will destroy local retail

#99

Post by mthoms » Thu, Jul 12, 2012, 2:11 AM UTC

This is the trojan horse. Once Amazon has a large presence in each major centre, the next logical step for them is use some of their massive space as a showroom (think Ikea but on a much larger scale).

[Edit: To clarify, the showroom and warehouse would be in the same complex but separated. Shoppers + heavy merchandise + fast moving robots is a recipe for disaster.]

Then they can satisfy both the "I want to see it before I buy it" crowd as well as the "I know what I want - just give me the best price" crowd.

Mark my words. Amazon has the Costco's, Walmart's and Best Buy's of the world squarely in their crosshairs.

*Of course there will of course always be specialty categories that are too niche to fit in this model, thus many specialized retailers will still exist.

Re: How Amazon’s ambitious new push for same-day delivery will destroy local retail

#100

Post by steve8918 » Thu, Jul 12, 2012, 2:11 AM UTC

AncientPC wrote: post #76

wheels wrote: post #54

Amazon has been doing this in parts of Germany since 2009. The results haven't been nearly as dramatic as the article predicts. As others have indicated, the limiting factor isn't so much speed of delivery as the inclination to physically inspect items before buying them. That said, Zappos, now a part of Amazon, has succeeded in doing that in one of the markets that tends the most towards such. Even so, there are sti…

I suspect this is a uniquely American thing. Similar to Dell's failed entrance into Asia, Americans are uniquely content with purchasing plenty of merchandise without ever physically examining the product.

Amazon has an absolutely amazing return policy. I've only returned an item once, but it was a $400 USB video adapter that didn't work with my monitors. I just printed out a UPS label, and returned it to the closest UPS store for free, and I got an instant refund.