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People Now Spend More at Amazon Than at Walmart

nytimes.com

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Re: People Now Spend More at Amazon Than at Walmart

#21

Post by r00fus »

nerfhammer wrote: post #19
silisili wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Walmart is getting better, but still way behind on the web front. They'll show you things in stock, then tell you it's out of stock upon checkout. Go back to product page, shows in stock again. They also use way, way too many captchas. Lastly, they divide walmart.com from walmart pickup and delivery for no reason. Some things you order on the .com side are only 'shippable' if your local store has it. So, it's pickup…

One thing I appreciate about home depot's web site: they'll tell you not only whether the item is in stock, but exactly where in a given store it's located

Target does this as well. Super useful to get in and out, limiting my contact with potentially infectious people - though I usually use their curbside.

Re: People Now Spend More at Amazon Than at Walmart

#22

Post by [deleted] »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #17
lotsofpulp wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I also like about Target and Hope Depot is I can put my phone number in when I am checking out at the store, and the purchases will show up in my account online so I can reference them later or not need to keep the physical receipt for returns.

Definitely, although I wish Home Depot wouldn’t ask each time about the digital receipt. They should (imho) provide a setting to always receive the digital receipt copy (with the email address associated to a credit card number).

[deleted]

Re: People Now Spend More at Amazon Than at Walmart

#23

Post by spaetzleesser »

nerfhammer wrote: post #19
silisili wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Walmart is getting better, but still way behind on the web front. They'll show you things in stock, then tell you it's out of stock upon checkout. Go back to product page, shows in stock again. They also use way, way too many captchas. Lastly, they divide walmart.com from walmart pickup and delivery for no reason. Some things you order on the .com side are only 'shippable' if your local store has it. So, it's pickup…

One thing I appreciate about home depot's web site: they'll tell you not only whether the item is in stock, but exactly where in a given store it's located

And most importantly they have only one listing for the same item. In Amazon and Walmart you have multiple listings of the same product by different sellers at different prices. In Amazon it's really annoying to see several pages of basically the same product.

Re: People Now Spend More at Amazon Than at Walmart

#24

Post by mike_d »

When a shopper enters a Walmart they have a fixed amount of money in their pocket and generally a good idea of what they want. You might get them to grab a candy bar, or buy the next grade up of tires, but it is effectively shifting dollars that would have been spent there already. Revenue growth is all about adding more essential items to the store and eliminating trips to other retailers.

Amazon has much more discretionary budget to try and extract from their customers, so time on site is absolutely critical.

I'd say the two aren't even competitive at this point. Amazon will need many years to build out a robust vertically integrated grocery logistics network that reaches Walmart customers. A few Whole Foods in rich neighborhoods isn't going to cut it. On the other hand, Walmart will never figure out how to sell stuff online without losing money, and will probably kill itself trying to chase Amazon for some unknown reason.

Re: People Now Spend More at Amazon Than at Walmart

#25

Post by swiley »

pope_meat wrote: post #9
smnrchrds wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$610 billion is more than the GDP of 190 out of 213 countries in the world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nomi...

And some of those 190 even manage to provide healthcare to their citizens, there's no "oh they're just part time citizens, gotta be a citizen for 40 hours a week to qualify for a doctor"

Those countries probably also require upfront price estimates and the hospital admins might not be trained experts in gaming regulation.

Re: People Now Spend More at Amazon Than at Walmart

#26

Post by silisili »

nerfhammer wrote: post #19
silisili wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Walmart is getting better, but still way behind on the web front. They'll show you things in stock, then tell you it's out of stock upon checkout. Go back to product page, shows in stock again. They also use way, way too many captchas. Lastly, they divide walmart.com from walmart pickup and delivery for no reason. Some things you order on the .com side are only 'shippable' if your local store has it. So, it's pickup…

One thing I appreciate about home depot's web site: they'll tell you not only whether the item is in stock, but exactly where in a given store it's located

Walmart app does this too actually. The main problem is that their inventory tracker is wildly inaccurate. I went looking for an item they claimed to have 4 of, and they in fact had none.

I think for a store as busy and understaffed as Walmart, real inventory gets to be a big guessing game.

Re: People Now Spend More at Amazon Than at Walmart

#27

Post by majormajor »

mike_d wrote: post #24

When a shopper enters a Walmart they have a fixed amount of money in their pocket and generally a good idea of what they want. You might get them to grab a candy bar, or buy the next grade up of tires, but it is effectively shifting dollars that would have been spent there already. Revenue growth is all about adding more essential items to the store and eliminating trips to other retailers. Amazon has much more discr…

> When a shopper enters a Walmart they have a fixed amount of money in their pocket and generally a good idea of what they want. You might get them to grab a candy bar, or buy the next grade up of tires, but it is effectively shifting dollars that would have been spent there already. Revenue growth is all about adding more essential items to the store and eliminating trips to other retailers.

People with credit cards shop at Walmart too, and there's a significant amount of marketing effort done to convince people to get new items they weren't planning on while they're there. Plenty of people there can be sold new things without going into a "oh, this new toy for my kid on the aisle endcap looks nice, time to put away the dozen eggs because I only have X dollars allocated for this trip" same-net-spending reaction.

(Anecdotally, my behavior is basicaly the opposite of what you describe: I got to Amazon when I already want a specific thing, and I find their browsing experience god-awful. I go to a physical store when I want to browse or shop without direction. Maybe I'll end up with a new shirt, or a book, or a video game, or a plant... maybe nothing...)

Re: People Now Spend More at Amazon Than at Walmart

#29

Post by OJFord »

silisili wrote: post #6
Grakel wrote: post #3

The article doesn't mention Walmart's website, which has become very good and widely used, especially as a more trustworthy source for real products than Amazon.com. Also the article is worded as if Walmart is in decline- the future is bright for both of these companies, not that anyone is concerned.

Walmart is getting better, but still way behind on the web front. They'll show you things in stock, then tell you it's out of stock upon checkout. Go back to product page, shows in stock again. They also use way, way too many captchas. Lastly, they divide walmart.com from walmart pickup and delivery for no reason. Some things you order on the .com side are only 'shippable' if your local store has it. So, it's pickup…

> I really like that for returns, they'll come pick it up. AMZ charges extra for that.

Oof, not in the UK. (At least not with Prime.)

Perhaps not quite as easy (for small enough items) as when I mostly commuted, and could print a label and leave it in an outgoing mail pile, but certainly from home I way prefer that than going to a post office (even in the absence of coronavirus restrictions).

I actually bought a printer for that purpose. A direct thermal label printer, because that's all I needed it for (and it was cheaper, has no ink to run out/dry out during a period of no use, etc.).

Re: People Now Spend More at Amazon Than at Walmart

#30

Post by handrous »

tyingq wrote: post #8
Grakel wrote: post #3

The article doesn't mention Walmart's website, which has become very good and widely used, especially as a more trustworthy source for real products than Amazon.com. Also the article is worded as if Walmart is in decline- the future is bright for both of these companies, not that anyone is concerned.

WalMart does also have 3rd party sellers where you have to watch what you buy. I suppose Walmart has a broader variety of in-house sold than Amazon though.

So does Target, I think. Becoming a shady online flea-market must be incredibly lucrative, since everyone who can seems to choose that over just being, like, a normal store, but online.
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