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Amazon to open grocery chain separate from Whole Foods

techcrunch.com

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Re: Amazon to open grocery chain separate from Whole Foods

#41

Post by craftyguy »

ip26 wrote: post #38
Skunkleton wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A few reasons: 1. Potential for less waste through 1) people not avoiding ugly produce, 2) not leaving refrigerated stuff on a non-refrigerated shelf, 3) leaving freezer doors open, 4) stealing things. 2. Less congestion in the browsing section. 3. Better stock tracking. 4. Easier stock management. You don't have to have people move stock between a warehouse and a shelf. 5. And yes, you don't have to push a cart. The…

I think this is what culture shock feels like. I truly struggle to imagine a people for whom being relieved of the great burden of pushing a grocery cart is actually a significant pro. Do these people even cook food? Wrt 3 & 4, when you've practically got two whole stores, one with stocked product and one with QR codes, you're not saving space or stock management. (You're not going to go straight from shipping boxes…

It's certainly a lot easier and faster to walk around a crowded grocery store without a cart than with one.

No idea why you are conflating the desire to push a shopping cars with the ability to cook food..

Re: Amazon to open grocery chain separate from Whole Foods

#42

Post by ip26 »

craftyguy wrote: post #41
ip26 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is what culture shock feels like. I truly struggle to imagine a people for whom being relieved of the great burden of pushing a grocery cart is actually a significant pro. Do these people even cook food? Wrt 3 & 4, when you've practically got two whole stores, one with stocked product and one with QR codes, you're not saving space or stock management. (You're not going to go straight from shipping boxes…

It's certainly a lot easier and faster to walk around a crowded grocery store without a cart than with one. No idea why you are conflating the desire to push a shopping cars with the ability to cook food..

It seems like someone who finds grocery shopping an insufferable hassle is going to feel the same way about spending an hour or two cooking dinner.

Maybe it's true, and carts are a great burden on many people. I've just not seen it myself, so I'm a bit flabbergasted. Especially since children can ride in carts.

Re: Amazon to open grocery chain separate from Whole Foods

#43

Post by knodi123 »

Skunkleton wrote: post #30
ip26 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is that better? It saves you from... pushing a cart? Not to mention, until robots can handle every variety of produce and package, isn't the real life manifestation basically going to be a sixteen year old dashing about in a mirror-store hidden in the back, tracing your footsteps, picking up the things you scan, and putting them in a cart?

A few reasons: 1. Potential for less waste through 1) people not avoiding ugly produce, 2) not leaving refrigerated stuff on a non-refrigerated shelf, 3) leaving freezer doors open, 4) stealing things. 2. Less congestion in the browsing section. 3. Better stock tracking. 4. Easier stock management. You don't have to have people move stock between a warehouse and a shelf. 5. And yes, you don't have to push a cart. The…

you forgot "instant checkout"

Re: Amazon to open grocery chain separate from Whole Foods

#44

Post by joveian »

manav wrote: post #29
anth_anm wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whole Foods already carries all that stuff.

Only a handful have hard liquor in California and with limited selection. None carry any big multinational brands and products like Coca Cola, Procter&Gamble, Colgate/Palmolive, etc.

In my experience, comparing organic food at whole foods vs elsewhere whole foods is similar price and sometimes the better deal. However, the conventional stuff they have (that makes up a large portion of the food they sell) seems to always be more expensive than elsewhere. I'm guessing the idea of avoiding the same exact brands is to make it a bit harder for customers to notice how much more expensive that stuff is at whole foods or at least think maybe the quality might be a bit better.

Re: Amazon to open grocery chain separate from Whole Foods

#45

Post by jryle70 »

ip26 wrote: post #42
craftyguy wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's certainly a lot easier and faster to walk around a crowded grocery store without a cart than with one. No idea why you are conflating the desire to push a shopping cars with the ability to cook food..

It seems like someone who finds grocery shopping an insufferable hassle is going to feel the same way about spending an hour or two cooking dinner. Maybe it's true, and carts are a great burden on many people. I've just not seen it myself, so I'm a bit flabbergasted. Especially since children can ride in carts.

Cooking is enjoyable. Pushing card in a crowded store is not. You either feel annoyed that you're blocked by someone's, or feel awkward that yours is blocking others. From that perspective not having carts is beneficial to the store as well, since customers now can enjoy lingering in the store longer.

Re: Amazon to open grocery chain separate from Whole Foods

#47

Post by bpicolo »

btmiller wrote: post #8
01100011 wrote: post #3

Smart move. Whole Foods has a limited appeal. It's not just price - sometimes people want to buy Cheetos or pizza rolls that don't taste like cardboard. Slightly related thought: Why not design a store which allows instant fulfillment from a wide selection of goods while taking up less ground level space? I could see an Amazon/Walmart/etc store where you reserve the shelf space for presentation, but the goods are act…

That might work. I envision something close to Ikea (but in a much smaller footprint) where product collection is batched at the end of the store route. In fact, surely they (Ikea) have tossed this idea around. Probably encountered some roadblocks due to the size and weight of some of their furniture offerings. And how about insincere actors who just want to make some heavy furniture fly around the store?

Unclear how the batching section would be any different from just a grocery store. Grocery stores aren’t display heavy like furniture needs to be, and you can’t condense the packaging

Re: Amazon to open grocery chain separate from Whole Foods

#48

Post by GhostVII »

gamegoblin wrote: post #5
01100011 wrote: post #3

Smart move. Whole Foods has a limited appeal. It's not just price - sometimes people want to buy Cheetos or pizza rolls that don't taste like cardboard. Slightly related thought: Why not design a store which allows instant fulfillment from a wide selection of goods while taking up less ground level space? I could see an Amazon/Walmart/etc store where you reserve the shelf space for presentation, but the goods are act…

Yes, I imagine a store in which you just walk around and scan QR codes on your phone and your bagged groceries are waiting for you when you walk out (all paid for on the app, too, so no checkout).

How is that different from buying groceries online with in-store pickup?

Re: Amazon to open grocery chain separate from Whole Foods

#49

Post by lotsofpulp »

dahdum wrote: post #31
mc32 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They do, but they don’t carry the mainstream versions of things: GUS soda instead of Coke/Pepsi. Cape Cod snacks instead of Doritoes. The thing I hate is they don’t carry regular Aspirin or Tylenol, Nyquil (your usual and basic over the counter medicines) instead they carry ‘homeopathic’ whatever useless ‘natural’ ‘medicines’ & ‘supplements’

The fact they sell and promote that garbage is far more telling of their corporate values than avoiding HFCS, IMHO.

There’s probably quite a bit of overlap between people who buy placebos and are into the organic/nonGMO marketing.

Re: Amazon to open grocery chain separate from Whole Foods

#50

Post by JadeNB »

tyingq wrote: post #19
manav wrote: post #10

I think the average Whole Foods has plenty of wasted space and that they could easily start to carry products that the average consumer has to go to a normal grocery/convenience store to buy (liquor, snacks, candy, soda, beauty etc). I don't think it will diminish from the experience. Plenty of higher end grocery stores do the same, even with a smaller footprint.

I would guess the perceived gap is also popular processed foods that would hurt the Whole Foods brand if they carried it.

> I would guess the perceived gap is also popular processed foods that would hurt the Whole Foods brand if they carried it.

I used to think this, but Whole Foods sure has a lot more problem with the 'popular' part than with the 'processed' part. If you actually look at the nutritional content of some of their products, it's pretty dire. (Not so much for processed food, but my wife noticed the other day that one of their cake slices, for one slice of cake, had 1100 calories and 100 grams of sugar.)

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