Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Costco is the anti-Amazon

phenomenalworld.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

571–580 of 610 posts

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#571

Post by tstenner »

throw1234567891 wrote: post #416
tstenner wrote: post #403

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in a walkable quarter and I can reach three full supermarkets and 2 specialty supermarkets within 5 minutes. Doesn't matter whether I need to stock up on milk, vegetables or hand peeled shrimp in garlic sauce, I can get it. Same with public schools (5 within a 2 mile radius), childcare (3), hospitals (2) and the park.

As you have to carry everything, how often do you go shopping?

Depends on how much we need. There are two car sharing stations next to the super markets when we need to stock up on long lasting basics, but I typically cover half a week (full family) in a trip. The nice thing is that when you absolutely need something (either for a recipe or when one of the kids has a sudden urgent urge) it's no big deal

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#572

Post by tstenner »

frrlpp wrote: post #481
Broken_Hippo wrote: post #419

Earlier quoted context omitted.

not who you were asking, but I walk to the store and carry my groceries home. Usually, twice a week or something. It's great. 10 minute walk each way, approximately, and never more than I can easily carry. I buy for two people. I'd go more often if I shopped for more. I do occasionally visit other stores - once or twice a month - because they have different selection of goods. To be fair, I'm still carrying the stuff…

You clearly have no family

I have a family of four and we manage just fine. The kids aren't toddlers any more (which only means that we can't put everything in the bottom layer of the stroller), but when they come to the age where they eat a week's shopping in a single sitting they will be old enough to take over a few shopping trips on their own.

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#573

Post by tstenner »

danny_codes wrote: post #485
jstanley wrote: post #420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok but that doesn't come close to the variety of products you can buy online.

Sure, but 98% of what you buy is is either in the set of SKUs near you or substitutable for them. Near you only applies if you live among actual density of course.

Ironically I found my current keyboard (a quite nice Cherry) in a store near me. For specialty parts where it doesn't make sense to have to them sitting around in stores everywhere online shopping is still allowed, but I only need to order something every few weeks

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#575

Post by mattmaroon »

bell-cot wrote: post #563
mattmaroon wrote: post #555

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok, load the app and search for Heinz ketchup and tell me what it would cost to go get some in store. You can’t. You can only get delivery pricing. They don’t have the basic functionality every store has had for a decade. Go to self check-out and grab a scanner for your heavy items, which they sell many of. You can’t, they don’t have them, you have to wait for the attendant to get to you with it. (They’re generally g…

> Ok, load the app and search ... > Go to self-checkout and grab ... Okay, but what if I really don't care about those important-to-you features? Based on Costco's membership numbers, I might have a whole lotta of company in that regard.

Good old HN.

Me: they’re great but their tech sucks

You: their tech is good

Me: it can’t do basic stuff

You: ok you’re right but they’re great

I can tell you I’m a member of both, but I frequently let my Costco lapse but never Sam’s. Just because it isn’t killing the golden goose doesn’t mean it isn’t worthwhile to fix.

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#576

Post by MrDresden »

dmix wrote: post #513
MrDresden wrote: post #504

Costco's is only a model that works in cultures used to having to drive to get groceries. Having now lived a few years in the Netherlands, I much more prefer the ability to cycle/walk by one of the myriad of grocery stores in my day to day area and grab what I need for todays dinner.

Costco does deliveries like most grocery stores, so you don’t need a car

That's not a service they offer everywhere.

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#577

Post by gWPVhyxPHqvk »

mike50 wrote: post #484
mlinsey wrote: post #472

Costco is an elegant solution for the suburbs, where everyone is driving around a vehicle large enough to store giant boxes off a pallet and bring them home. Here in NYC, it's really impractical to go to a warehouse and carry a month's worth of supplies home on the subway. The flip side is that the Amazon last mile deliveries are done on electric scooters that can bring a whole trailer worth of packages to the mailro…

This has to be astoturfed or something. There is literally a Costco in Manhattan and several in suburban Queens and Staten Island. Nothing stops you from going to Costco and just getting a cab back for a once a month trip.

As someone who used to live in lower Manhattan... yes there is. The smaller apartment sizes, the 45min - 1hr each way travel time, the difficulty loading and unloading out of a car that's not yours. Costco is totally a suburban, car dependent location phenomenon, while Amazon/FreshDirect/bodegas are much more convenient in a city.

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#578

Post by victorbjorklund »

throw1234567891 wrote: post #416
tstenner wrote: post #403

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in a walkable quarter and I can reach three full supermarkets and 2 specialty supermarkets within 5 minutes. Doesn't matter whether I need to stock up on milk, vegetables or hand peeled shrimp in garlic sauce, I can get it. Same with public schools (5 within a 2 mile radius), childcare (3), hospitals (2) and the park.

As you have to carry everything, how often do you go shopping?

Jesus no wonder Americans are so fat when they don’t even have strength enough to carry their shopping bags

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#579

Post by sevenseacat »

lynndotpy wrote: post #536
alanbernstein wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, 100 trucks delivering 100 single items to 100 homes, or 100 consumers each making 1 trip to buy 100 things. It really depends on the details too much to simplify it so far.

Just anecdotally, I think the typical Costco trip is alongside trips someone would have taken already. Go to work, take a 5 minute detour to stop by Costco for your prescriptions, gas, and groceries on the way back

As a non-American, all of these threads are utterly fascinating.

Re: Costco is the anti-Amazon

#580

Post by sevenseacat »

btheunissen wrote: post #394
makeitdouble wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To note, Costco doesn't make much sense in most places outside of the USA (and doesn't have to. No shop needs to cater to the whole world). It still exists in select locations in some countries, but are more exotic experiences than anything else. Shopping for weeks of groceries at a time is IMHO crazy niche, it requires a level of isolation and buying power that is seldom combined.

I’m in Australia and I love going to my local Costco with my wife monthly to load up on meat we re-portion and freeze. Calling it an exotic experience is a little much, they operate in 14 countries, I’m just there for the bulk savings with a hot dog or two.

I mean I'm also in Australia and given how few Costcos we have over here, it pretty much is an event because it's not on your way anywhere, you generally have to make a special trip of a decent distance so you want to make it worth the trip.

I think I've been like... three times?

I do have a mate that makes pretty regular trips, but even then they're just that, trips to Costco for some specific purpose or product.

Post reply on HN