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Amazon Unveils One-Hour Delivery Service

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Re: Amazon Unveils One-Hour Delivery Service

#61

Post by zevyoura »

_delirium wrote: post #55
5555624 wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If a store is close to your commute route, for example, the delivery costs will probably never be low enough to match with that. I think it's not if it is "close," but if it's "convenient" to your commute route -- in terms of location and/or commuting method. If I am in NYC and I need to get off the subway, walk a half block, get the item, and then walk back and get not he subway; I might not want to do it, dependin…

> If I'm riding my bike to commute, I might easily be able to stop, but I might not be able to carry it. You could get one of these: http://www.christianiabikes.com/en/ :) I see a lot of then in Copenhagen these days. Mostly families though, since they use them to carry both kids and shopping. Also probably requires a certain infrastructure to work; you wouldn't want to ride one of those in traffic (esp. with kids),…

I've actually seen a handful of these in SF as well, which doesn't really have the infrastructure I'd think would be necessary.

Re: Amazon Unveils One-Hour Delivery Service

#62

Post by ssharp »

stronglikedan wrote: post #48
morgante wrote: post #43

I just placed an order with this new service (some HDMI cables for our office). The selection is pretty decent, definitely comparable to Google Shopping Express. One very odd note though: they ask for a variable tip to the delivery courier (something Google doesn't do). So even for "free" 2 hour delivery, you're paying for delivery. While I see how this is better for the courier, I think it's a big mistake—people hat…

There's a pizza chain that does this for online orders, and it drives me crazy. I don't tip until after service is rendered, because tipping ahead of time insures nothing. There's no place to put a custom note on the order either, so I have to order by phone. It's good for them that they have great pizza, because I'm sure this turns off a lot of potential customers, but not me.

I don't like the automatic tips for another reason: I'm always skeptical the delivery person actually gets the tip.

Re: Amazon Unveils One-Hour Delivery Service

#63

Post by LLWM »

mooreds wrote: post #24

It's hard for me to see how this doesn't hurt local vendors badly. Of course, it depends on what the the 25,000 items are, but that was one of the key differentiators between Amazon and local stores--if you needed something and you needed it now, the local store was the only option (things like cabling for a new TV, gifts for a party that night, etc). Now, for prime members in NYC at least, Amazon is a viable option.…

If the local vendors get hurt by this, it means they were providing an inferior service, and we're better off replacing them with Amazon.

Re: Amazon Unveils One-Hour Delivery Service

#66

Post by notatoad »

jmathai wrote: post #29
jcr wrote: post #4

Just as Amazon is trying to use 1 hour delivery to compete better against brick-and-mortar companies, Google is trying to help the brick-and-mortar companies compete with Amazon by providing a competing delivery service called "Google Express" (previously called "Google Shopping Express") [1]. It's been mentioned a few times on hn [2,3]. [1] https://www.google.com/shopping/express/ [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/it…

> Google is trying to help the brick-and-mortar companies compete with Amazon I'm not sure that wording is accurate. Google is leveraging the brick-and-mortar companies to compete with Amazon and collect more data about its users. Arguably some of the most valuable data they could get; spending and buying habits. I doubt Target is thrilled that Google is looking to inject themselves as a middleman between them and th…

It'll be pretty easy for target to prevent google from helping them, they can just decline to participate in the program. They are participants though, which should tell you something about how target actually feels about the program. And they don't lose any customer habit data, as customers still use their loyalty cards through Google Express.

Almost all of Google's profit right now is derived from B2B relationships. Providing services to other businesses is what they do. Yes, they make a good profit while they're doing it, but to suggest the business who are google's customers don't see any benefit from it is silly.

Re: Amazon Unveils One-Hour Delivery Service

#67

Post by Avshalom »

stronglikedan wrote: post #48
morgante wrote: post #43

I just placed an order with this new service (some HDMI cables for our office). The selection is pretty decent, definitely comparable to Google Shopping Express. One very odd note though: they ask for a variable tip to the delivery courier (something Google doesn't do). So even for "free" 2 hour delivery, you're paying for delivery. While I see how this is better for the courier, I think it's a big mistake—people hat…

There's a pizza chain that does this for online orders, and it drives me crazy. I don't tip until after service is rendered, because tipping ahead of time insures nothing. There's no place to put a custom note on the order either, so I have to order by phone. It's good for them that they have great pizza, because I'm sure this turns off a lot of potential customers, but not me.

Tipping ahead of time ensures that driver gets paid. Which is a bit more important than whether you're first or last during a delivery run.

Re: Amazon Unveils One-Hour Delivery Service

#68

Post by nezza-_- »

Avshalom wrote: post #67
stronglikedan wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a pizza chain that does this for online orders, and it drives me crazy. I don't tip until after service is rendered, because tipping ahead of time insures nothing. There's no place to put a custom note on the order either, so I have to order by phone. It's good for them that they have great pizza, because I'm sure this turns off a lot of potential customers, but not me.

Tipping ahead of time ensures that driver gets paid. Which is a bit more important than whether you're first or last during a delivery run.

No, the Pizzeria paying the driver ensures that the driver gets paid.

Re: Amazon Unveils One-Hour Delivery Service

#69

Post by stronglikedan »

Avshalom wrote: post #67
stronglikedan wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a pizza chain that does this for online orders, and it drives me crazy. I don't tip until after service is rendered, because tipping ahead of time insures nothing. There's no place to put a custom note on the order either, so I have to order by phone. It's good for them that they have great pizza, because I'm sure this turns off a lot of potential customers, but not me.

Tipping ahead of time ensures that driver gets paid. Which is a bit more important than whether you're first or last during a delivery run.

Prompt service ensures a good tip. The driver will get paid either way, and he'll get tipped either way. However, since the tip reflects the quality of the service, the amount cannot be determined ahead of time. I'd never stiff the driver though, regardless of how bad the service is.

Re: Amazon Unveils One-Hour Delivery Service

#70

Post by philwelch »

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #56
philwelch wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wal-Mart has the downside that you have to go to Wal-Mart though. I don't just mean that in the dismissive sense that their stores are unpleasant (which they are), but there's a fundamental mismatch between an urbanizing population and a big box store in the suburbs that everyone has to drive to and lose their car in a massive parking lot. In fact, Sam Walton knew this. His mission wasn't to dominate the world of ret…

there's a fundamental mismatch between an urbanizing population and a big box store in the suburbs that everyone has to drive to and lose their car in a massive parking lot. There are Wal-Marts all over big cities, though. Public transit takes you to them. Amazon's new service is more expensive than public transit. Also, you also don't get any exercise when using it, whereas many people like going out for a walk. Tha…

The nearest Walmarts to Seattle are in Renton and Bellevue. The nearest Walmarts to New York are either in New Jersey or upstate. There are Walmart "Neighborhood Markets" in Chicago, but the big box stores that they famously scale with are in the suburbs. There seems to be a Wal-Mart in LA, but not downtown, rather in the area that seems like a bunch of suburbs concatenated together. There are a few in Houston, mainly in the suburbs that were annexed to the city but there's at least one inside the 610 loop. (Having been to Houston, it is also largely a series of suburbs concatenated together.) Those are the four largest cities in the US.

By and large Walmart is a suburban phenomenon. They're trying to move into the cities because they don't have anywhere else to expand, but the assumptions underlying big box stores aren't going to hold up in that environment and they're going to become just another brick-and-mortar retailer, with all the costs that entails.

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