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Will Amazon Become the Wal-Mart of the Web?

nytimes.com

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Re: Will Amazon Become the Wal-Mart of the Web?

#31

Post by ajaypopat »

jrockway wrote: post #24
scottjackson wrote: post #10

My one annoyance with Amazon: I live in Australia, yet Amazon item pages still say, even when I'm logged in , that I've qualified for "FREE Super Saving Shiping!" A quick check of Amazon's help pages will tell you that international customers aren't eligible for free shipping of any kind. All of my shipping addresses are in Australia, but Amazon doesn't do any checking of that before saying that I've qualified. Also,…

Well, some international customers have Amazon Prime. A friend of mine in Japan claims she orders everything from Amazon with low-cost same-day delivery ($8 extra in the US). She called it "Amazon Prime", but I have not looked myself. Anyway, I am with you on ordering everything from Amazon. I live in the US and have Prime, and it's just amazing. Going to the store is just not necessary when you can have something sh…

Yes, Amazon Prime is available in Japan. http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId...

Re: Will Amazon Become the Wal-Mart of the Web?

#32

Post by jeffbarr »

pragmatic wrote: post #2

Wal-Mart++? I've ordered lawn mower parts, (kid's) toys, a laptop, a Kindle, hard drives, etc, etc from Amazon this year. My local hardware store didn't have the lawnmower parts I needed but Amazon did.

Yes, but did you launch 100 Linux servers, store a couple of hundred GB of data, or run a MapReduce job?

You will...

Re: Will Amazon Become the Wal-Mart of the Web?

#33

Post by known »

ajaypopat wrote: post #30
natmaster wrote: post #25

Given that Walmart.com runs on the Amazon software, Amazon literally is the Wal-Mart of the web.

Can you cite a source that says walmart.com is using Amazon software? I'm not aware that walmart.com is running on any Amazon software. PS: I work for Amazon and have a friend that works for walmart.com

http://toolbar.netcraft.com/site_report?url=http://www.Walma...

Re: Will Amazon Become the Wal-Mart of the Web?

#34

Post by eru »

Erwin wrote: post #22
wheels wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Germany (where Amazon uses DHL), DHL has "PackStations" scattered around the country where you can go to pick up your package if they miss you at home delivery. I think in most cases they're within half a mile of the home they tried to deliver to. So when Amazon misses me, I just walk over with the DSL slip that says a package is there and scan the barcode on it and grab my package.

The Danish Post has installed such a system for general packages here. If they cannot deliver, they stick it in such a machine (open 24/7) and you can pick it up. But you can also put a special delivery address on your package so it will end up there right away (and you'll get a text message when it's there). You can also supposedly send packages from them.

> You can also supposedly send packages from them.

In Germany too. Did not try it yet, though.

Re: Will Amazon Become the Wal-Mart of the Web?

#35

Post by eru »

pyre wrote: post #17

They will be the Wal-Mart of the web when they start throwing their weight around and 'holding wholesalers hostage' to drive down prices, forcing manufacturers to make 'cheaper' versions of the same product just for Amazon (and in some cases listing that 'Amazon-version' with the cheaper parts/build quality as the exact same model as the ones that were sent to other retailers).

Did you know that Wal-Mart left the German market, because it was too competitive for them?

Re: Will Amazon Become the Wal-Mart of the Web?

#36

Post by oconnor0 »

eru wrote: post #35
pyre wrote: post #17

They will be the Wal-Mart of the web when they start throwing their weight around and 'holding wholesalers hostage' to drive down prices, forcing manufacturers to make 'cheaper' versions of the same product just for Amazon (and in some cases listing that 'Amazon-version' with the cheaper parts/build quality as the exact same model as the ones that were sent to other retailers).

Did you know that Wal-Mart left the German market, because it was too competitive for them?

Do you have sources or an article on that?

Re: Will Amazon Become the Wal-Mart of the Web?

#38

Post by MikeCapone »

electromagnetic wrote: post #13
scottjackson wrote: post #10

My one annoyance with Amazon: I live in Australia, yet Amazon item pages still say, even when I'm logged in , that I've qualified for "FREE Super Saving Shiping!" A quick check of Amazon's help pages will tell you that international customers aren't eligible for free shipping of any kind. All of my shipping addresses are in Australia, but Amazon doesn't do any checking of that before saying that I've qualified. Also,…

Amazon's severely restricted here in Canada compared to the US, and is pitiful compared to what I'm used to in the UK, so I receive the same problem as I'm frequently on the US site. I don't fare well as I used amazon for nearly everything while in the UK, but now in Canada I'm stuck with CrapBuy and Shit-Mart who sell everything at hiked prices.

Agreed. I really wish the Amazon.ca site would come to mirror the US version.

Anyone knows if they've announced plans to do that?

Re: Will Amazon Become the Wal-Mart of the Web?

#39

Post by potatolicious »

sahaj wrote: post #12

it already is. it's the biggest and cheapest place on the web. shipping is getting faster and better as well. i was going to order an OEM hard-drive and in the reviews someone complained about the poor packaging. someone else replied and said to take a picture and submit to amazon. one day later another reviewer said that their packaging was fine. trusting amazon, i placed my order (free shipping). i just got my hard…

I work on the team that handles packaging feedback at Amazon, we do care about these issues and need your feedback on how both Amazon and the product manufacturers do on packaging.

http://www.amazon.com/packaging

You can always submit feedback on past orders here, it's easy and quick, and helps us fine-tune things a lot. Like parent said, you can take pictures of how we packed your stuff and submit it, we do go through the feedback religiously :)

Re: Will Amazon Become the Wal-Mart of the Web?

#40

Post by potatolicious »

eru wrote: post #35
pyre wrote: post #17

They will be the Wal-Mart of the web when they start throwing their weight around and 'holding wholesalers hostage' to drive down prices, forcing manufacturers to make 'cheaper' versions of the same product just for Amazon (and in some cases listing that 'Amazon-version' with the cheaper parts/build quality as the exact same model as the ones that were sent to other retailers).

Did you know that Wal-Mart left the German market, because it was too competitive for them?

http://www.amazon.de/

is still there. In fact my team just launched a new feature on it a week ago. Amazon is far from dead in Germany.

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