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Amazon Local Register

localregister.amazon.com

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Re: Amazon Local Register

#181

Post by phreanix »

baxter001 wrote: post #118
runevault wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One business type I can see this making sense for is food trucks, as I don't see amazon going into that business anytime soon if ever. Beyond that I tend to agree with you that giving amazon even more data seems like a horrible idea.

A crêpe van is one of the friendly examples they have in the carousel on that page. Although why anyone would buy their decorative paper from the back of a van is beyond me.

Don't know why you're getting downvoted, I thought it was brilliant.

Re: Amazon Local Register

#182

Post by MadManE »

bentcorner wrote: post #123
MadManE wrote: post #69

I think it's very interesting that the Amazon phone is not one of the supported devices for this.

Although not unsurprising. Once corporations get large enough you get this sort of desynchronization. Maintaining product development secrecy while also ensuring internal teams have aligned goals can be difficult.

Very true. I think it just highlights some of the cracks in their armor, so to speak.

Re: Amazon Local Register

#183

Post by phreanix »

runevault wrote: post #93
jnardiello wrote: post #33

It's a trap. You, owner of a shop, don't do this. Amazon will first analyze all your sales data, they will than attach reviews to your shop and finally they will oblige you to play by their rules or die (banned or killed by bad reviews) and either way they will grow thanks to your hard work. I'm not joking, this is exactly what they have done (and keep doing) with "partners". Amazon is all but transparent and it has…

One business type I can see this making sense for is food trucks, as I don't see amazon going into that business anytime soon if ever. Beyond that I tend to agree with you that giving amazon even more data seems like a horrible idea.

Amazon has a truck fleet that look almost like Foodtrucks. I've actually seen a retrofitted Foodtruck selling Fire's and the new Amazon Phone by the beach in Santa Monica.

This makes sense for more than just Foodtrucks. The pain of fees is a very real thing for retail startups and if amazon is also going to give us a terminal that can take the place of a $3k+ POS system, then I'd be seriously considering it.

Re: Amazon Local Register

#184

Post by nedwin »

jack-r-abbit wrote: post #114
gfodor wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Obviously Amazon is different, because unlike credit card companies they are in the business of competing with small retailers. Particularly when you consider their "your margin is my opportunity" strategy giving this data to them should be a terrifying proposition for any business owner.

But there are so many places that Amazon does not compete with that there is a market for this. Obviously a small book store might not want to do this but what about restaurants, coffee shops, the plumber that comes to fix your toilet (or any service industry), the local tap room, and so on. Edit: Sorry, the idea of Amazon opening restaurants, coffee shops or tap rooms (which would also mean they start brewing their…

Well Amazon have started doing a local services marketplace. If they can become dominant they can start to control the flow of leads to these businesses and therefore control margins and pricing.

Re: Amazon Local Register

#185

Post by phreanix »

dminor wrote: post #71
what_ever wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes you think they are not buying this data already from credit card companies?

Credit card companies only know where you are shopping and how much you spend. This gives Amazon product level data.

Precisely. This is deep in the trenches data.

Amazon will gain by knowing what products sell most at what time of the week. It will allow predict where to roll out certain services. One day delivery? Done.

Re: Amazon Local Register

#186

Post by ajross »

jcomis wrote: post #136
jnardiello wrote: post #33

It's a trap. You, owner of a shop, don't do this. Amazon will first analyze all your sales data, they will than attach reviews to your shop and finally they will oblige you to play by their rules or die (banned or killed by bad reviews) and either way they will grow thanks to your hard work. I'm not joking, this is exactly what they have done (and keep doing) with "partners". Amazon is all but transparent and it has…

How is amazon going to undercut my barber or the brewery I go to with this data? It seems like there are plenty of businesses that could benefit from this and not be at risk to the "empire".

Exactly. All the concern trolling above is about boxed product retail, where you're "competing" with stuff Amazon already sells. The majority of local transactions are and have always been in the service economy where Amazon has nothing to offer.

This isn't an Evil Plot, it's just an attempt to leverage their existing payment processing abilities to get themselves a piece of Square's pi, much in the same way that AWS leveraged their existing IT infrastructure.

Could they mistreat retailers who are trying to make a living reselling boxed products? Yeah. But those retailers have mostly been killed off already by Big Box stores. This ship sailed long ago.

Re: Amazon Local Register

#187

Post by totalrobe »

cbhl wrote: post #148
totalrobe wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you say Amazon is controlling cashflow? It looks like they offer bank transfers everyday. From the site: "Fast, reliable deposits. Deposits to your bank account the next business day. Or spend your money at Amazon.com within minutes."

Because that's not how long it takes for money to really clear a credit card when banks are involved.

Well then one business day would be an improvement on cash flow vs a typical bank... or am I an idiot?

Obviously it's hard to compete with Amazon on commodity products, but it seems like they are lowering the barriers to entry for many unique retailers and small businesses.

Re: Amazon Local Register

#188

Post by totalrobe »

epistasis wrote: post #81
antr wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get your comment and agree with it, but... It's funny how us (the HN/startup/pro disruptive audience) is very pro change (let's get rid off the middle man because we can create software that can do this cheaper and more efficient) and now we are 'rooting' for the brick and mortar business. There is a sociological take away somewhere here.

Amazon is a middleman too, just one that does lots of online shipping. If they become the only middleman, than the situation gets much worse as there are no longer any market forces to keep Amazon's prices to be close to their costs. The only force at that point is Amazon's good will to not make a profit.

Don't worry. Amazon isn't even the biggest middleman:

"Last year, combined total volume of merchandise handled by Taobao and Tmall surpassed 1 trillion yuan, or about $160 billion, according to Alibaba. That figure was larger than Amazon’s $86 billion, according to RetailNet Group, or eBay’s 67.8 billion"

Re: Amazon Local Register

#189

Post by jack-r-abbit »

B5geek wrote: post #179
jack-r-abbit wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But there are so many places that Amazon does not compete with that there is a market for this. Obviously a small book store might not want to do this but what about restaurants, coffee shops, the plumber that comes to fix your toilet (or any service industry), the local tap room, and so on. Edit: Sorry, the idea of Amazon opening restaurants, coffee shops or tap rooms (which would also mean they start brewing their…

Demolition Man not Judge Dredd. --Enhance your calm John Spartan.

Damn... how did I mess that up? My bad.

Re: Amazon Local Register

#190

Post by sliverstorm »

will_brown wrote: post #92
dminor wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1.75% is a huge discount.

1.75% may be competitive and better than rates of some merchants receive; however, I had a negotiated rate of .4% for one of my businesses. One of the problems with the entire industry is misinformation, unlevel playing field (inability for your average merchant to negotiate the best rates), and the unscrupulous nature of the sales tactics of the merchant services themselves.

Why should a small merchant get the best rate? Big clients get the best rates because they a) have more clout but also b) have orders more volume
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