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

#221

Post by emperorcezar » Thu, Jul 12, 2012, 12:17 PM UTC

mh- wrote: post #163

emperorcezar wrote: post #133

A business is required to pay sales tax, not collect. Like some other businesses, Amazon can just include the tax in the price. For instance, bars will include the taxes in the drink tax because if they show you how much tax is in a glass of beer you'd be very surprised, it's something like 40%. It's an mental game though. Do you get people "through the door" with an item at $19.99 and hope they don't close the tab w…

not really accurate. Businesses don't pay sales tax on purchases for resale. Sales tax is paid by the consumer, but collected by the business. In most states, there is an exception afforded to food/liquor businesses that allows them to advertise prices tax-included. Otherwise, the state laws usually look like this one: http://dor.wa.gov/Content/GetAFormOrPublication/PublicationB...

Sadly the link is broken.

I remember when I did a small computer repair business out east 10 years ago that this was not the case.

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

#222

Post by jlgreco » Thu, Jul 12, 2012, 12:25 PM UTC

smallblacksun wrote: post #155

ww520 wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Texas would have collected double taxes in the form of use tax from its resident and the sales tax from Amazon.

No one actually pays use taxes.

Am I the only person in existence that does? My state offers a table that estimates your use tax due based on income. I've always used that.

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

#223

Post by sigkill » Thu, Jul 12, 2012, 12:45 PM UTC

dclowd9901 wrote: post #151

arjunnarayan wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 mu…

I wouldn't say it was "bad". Women's shoes are designed with fashion and daintiness in mind. They seem flimsy because they are flimsy, and they are flimsy because well crafted, long lasting shoes are big and burly with lots of material and stitching. This goes counter to the point of the shoes: to look trim and to make the woman's foot look small and pretty.

This maybe a bit impractical by todays social norms but I don't think anyone has ever thought of carbon-fibre footwear combined with leather cushions. I'm reasonably sure that this will be light and strong.

We only need comfort testing, but I think the flip-side would be that womens shoes would cost upward of $200-$300 equivalent. I don't know if there's a market for that.

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

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Post by artmageddon » Thu, Jul 12, 2012, 12:58 PM UTC

ZoFreX wrote: post #217

tokenadult wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see multiple comments from men here about how women they know buy impractical clothing and shoes that are poorly made and don't last well. I'm happy to report that whatever the general pattern is, there are happy exceptions. Some women I know (for example my wife) and some girls I know (for example my daughter) seek out clothing and shoes that are well made and hold up to heavy use in outdoor exercise. Just the oth…

It's also worth pointing out that many men make their decisions on factors other than comfort. I'm currently wearing some Cons that are falling apart only a year after I bought them, and I've probably only worn them 1/3 of the time I've had them. I get blisters if I walk too far, they're a pain to take on and off, but they look awesome and I'll probably be getting another pair.

>I get blisters if I walk too far, they're a pain to take on and off, but they look awesome and I'll probably be getting another pair.

To each is his own, but the runner in me can't help but think "Those poor feet..." :(

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

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Post by jrabone » Thu, Jul 12, 2012, 1:07 PM UTC

rickmb wrote: post #189

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 it's partially in American thing. In most European cities, the shops are around the corner. There's little effort involved, so Amazon doesn't sufficiently offset the advantages of instant gratification and being able to physically see stuff to make such a dramatic impact. Also, the different European attitude towards regulation has resulted in many cities actively protecting the kind of independent stores t…

Perhaps the rest of Europe is better. As a UK resident I hope they absolutely crush the high street "experience" as it is in many large UK towns - which I find suffers from the exactly the same triumph of cost cutting over customer service that you're citing as a factor in the US. I'd rather see the high streets grassed over and turned into city centre parks. Or slabbed over and turned into parking, in some places. I would buy everything online and have it delivered given the chance. I already buy most clothes, shoes, electronics, media, computer hardware, groceries, and a lot of it comes from Amazon already.

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

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Post by rickmb » Thu, Jul 12, 2012, 1:08 PM UTC

Tichy wrote: post #196

rickmb wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect it's partially in American thing. In most European cities, the shops are around the corner. There's little effort involved, so Amazon doesn't sufficiently offset the advantages of instant gratification and being able to physically see stuff to make such a dramatic impact. Also, the different European attitude towards regulation has resulted in many cities actively protecting the kind of independent stores t…

Can't say I agree - shopping feels like a huge waste of time to me. Living in a big city in Europe, but still a shopping trip will take at least 1h. Of course for other people it is heaven.

One hour still beats same day delivery on every front except having to put on pants and leave the house. People for whom that isn't a barrier form a considerable market (albeit that they may be underrepresented on HN...)

But also, same day delivery is logistically near impossible and quite expensive in exactly those cities for exactly the same reasons. The density doesn't make them car friendly, and certainly not delivery van friendly.

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

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Post by jrabone » Thu, Jul 12, 2012, 1:10 PM UTC

stevenwei wrote: post #192

msutherl wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great for consumers like us, but terrible for all of the people who work ridiculous hours under constant stress on warehouse floors or do deliveries day in and day out. I try to buy from brick & mortar shops purely because running a shop is a job that has a shred of dignity left in it.

I can't help but think that both of those jobs (warehouse/delivery) will be obsoleted in the near future with the development of more advanced robotics.

Some Amazon FCs are already fully automated (Marston Gate in Luton, UK for example), and they recently bought Kiva Systems for $775 million, who do just that (http://techland.time.com/2012/03/21/amazons-775-million-acqu...)

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

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Post by k-mcgrady » Thu, Jul 12, 2012, 1:13 PM UTC

I don't think it will destroy local retail. All the businesses within a 10 minute walk of your home will be fine, it's still more convenient than same day shipping unless your very busy. It's the businesses slightly outside the core of the town that will suffer. If it takes you 30-60 minutes to drive to a store you might order same-day from Amazon.

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

#229

Post by jrabone » Thu, Jul 12, 2012, 1:17 PM UTC

sureshv wrote: post #185

notatoad wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you might be underestimating amazon's position. They already have massive revenues, and better mindshare than most of the brands they sell. They aren't some new startup, they bring in millions of dollars a day and are historically proven to be a successful company. Your post would make sense if amazon were a year old. They aren't. They've been doing this for a long time now and are very very good at it.

Q1 2012 Amazon had $13B in revenue and basically broke even, Costco had $23B in revenue, and Walmart has $113B. Where are you getting your financials from?

And Amazon's revenue is growing 33% YoY. Costco is 8%. Wallmart is 8.5%. See where this is going?

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

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Post by hrktb » Thu, Jul 12, 2012, 1:17 PM UTC

I'd have died to have that in the US or Japan for e.g., anywhere delivery of basic goods actually works and isn't painful. I feel the main barrier to this is to have the local delivery company deliver things on time and in a friendly fashion.

That's not something you could expect in any country amazon operates (french's chronopost delivery is really hostile for ex., but there should be a ton of others). It'd bear with it for things I expect in weeks anyway, it would be horrible to have it for goods that are supposed to be there today.