Next post: Google customer service vs. Amazon customer service.
Everyone knows how that would turn out...
The 800 Pound Gorilla Amazon Tried to Kill is Google's Trojan Horse
51–60 of 78 posts
Re: The 800 Pound Gorilla Amazon Tried to Kill is Google's Trojan Horse
#52If I was Amazon I'd be more worried about self-driving cars. Self-driving cars will make natural delivery vehicles. If Google partnered with local retailers to provide check-out via wallet and delivery via automated cars, it would disrupt more than just Amazon. Google has all of the nascent building blocks in place: Google Wallet, Google Shopping Express, Google Shopping, Google Maps with StreetView for routing, auto…
Same-day delivery is the next big battle in the eCommerce space, but the real challenge isn't on the delivery end. It's on the logistics and supply chain end. Amazon has been investing heavily in distribution centers, inventory management, and fulfillment. (And even Amazon has a largely expensive, small, and inefficient distribution network as compared to, say, Walmart's). As seamless as the front-ends of eCommerce h…
> Automated cars can make deliveries pretty easily, but they can't move merchandise in quantity between locations.
Automated trucks sure as hell can...
Re: The 800 Pound Gorilla Amazon Tried to Kill is Google's Trojan Horse
#53It is worthwhile to pay attention to history. Internet shopping has a good historical analog. Mail order catalogs. It took a long time for things to settle down, but eventually everyone wound up with both mailorder and retail outlets. Even the 800 pound gorilla of mailorder, Sears Roebuck, became a hybrid. It took decades before they opened their first store, but today it is mostly known as a chain of department stor…
Mail order catalogs never offered the opportunity to transcend the experience at a store.
Digital experiences do theoretically offer that possibility. One example is using virtual augmented reality to see how that shoe rack will look in you're home, how does it combines with your wall and floor colors, etc.
And this "digital better than real" has already started todat. Some high quality furniture retailers or hotels(forgot which) ,use computer generated models for their catalogs, not carpentry and photography.
Re: The 800 Pound Gorilla Amazon Tried to Kill is Google's Trojan Horse
#54If I was Amazon I'd be more worried about self-driving cars. Self-driving cars will make natural delivery vehicles. If Google partnered with local retailers to provide check-out via wallet and delivery via automated cars, it would disrupt more than just Amazon. Google has all of the nascent building blocks in place: Google Wallet, Google Shopping Express, Google Shopping, Google Maps with StreetView for routing, auto…
I'm sorry but self-driving cars will not make any type of delivery. You obviously have not thought of even the simplest type of logistical delivery method. How would the package go from point A(the delivery vehicle), to point B(point of delivery). The simplest logistical standpoint of just getting out the vehicle and bringing the package to the residence is too advanced for any robot, anytime soon. A person can hop out, drop it off, and be on his/her way before a robot even gets to the curb. A self driving car with a person inside pretty much defeats the purpose of a self-driving vehicle.
Re: The 800 Pound Gorilla Amazon Tried to Kill is Google's Trojan Horse
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
Same-day delivery is the next big battle in the eCommerce space, but the real challenge isn't on the delivery end. It's on the logistics and supply chain end. Amazon has been investing heavily in distribution centers, inventory management, and fulfillment. (And even Amazon has a largely expensive, small, and inefficient distribution network as compared to, say, Walmart's). As seamless as the front-ends of eCommerce h…
> Automated cars can make deliveries pretty easily, but they can't move merchandise in quantity between locations. Automated trucks sure as hell can...
To and from where, though? That's the issue. The issue isn't the delivery vehicles; it's the inventory management. For Google, the most likely way around this problem will be as a service provider / aggregator for existing shops (similar to Amazon's affiliate program).
Re: The 800 Pound Gorilla Amazon Tried to Kill is Google's Trojan Horse
#56If I was Amazon I'd be more worried about self-driving cars. Self-driving cars will make natural delivery vehicles. If Google partnered with local retailers to provide check-out via wallet and delivery via automated cars, it would disrupt more than just Amazon. Google has all of the nascent building blocks in place: Google Wallet, Google Shopping Express, Google Shopping, Google Maps with StreetView for routing, auto…
I'm sorry but self-driving cars will not make any type of delivery. You obviously have not thought of even the simplest type of logistical delivery method. How would the package go from point A(the delivery vehicle), to point B(point of delivery). The simplest logistical standpoint of just getting out the vehicle and bringing the package to the residence is too advanced for any robot, anytime soon. A person can hop o…
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Re: The 800 Pound Gorilla Amazon Tried to Kill is Google's Trojan Horse
#57If I was Amazon I'd be more worried about self-driving cars. Self-driving cars will make natural delivery vehicles. If Google partnered with local retailers to provide check-out via wallet and delivery via automated cars, it would disrupt more than just Amazon. Google has all of the nascent building blocks in place: Google Wallet, Google Shopping Express, Google Shopping, Google Maps with StreetView for routing, auto…
I'm sorry but self-driving cars will not make any type of delivery. You obviously have not thought of even the simplest type of logistical delivery method. How would the package go from point A(the delivery vehicle), to point B(point of delivery). The simplest logistical standpoint of just getting out the vehicle and bringing the package to the residence is too advanced for any robot, anytime soon. A person can hop o…
I just want to make sure I'm hearing you clearly here:
The company that has built a system that allows cars to drive themselves, with no human intervention, across entire states and through urban areas, can't figure out a way to go 20 feet from a car to someone's front door/mailbox? Really??
Re: The 800 Pound Gorilla Amazon Tried to Kill is Google's Trojan Horse
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Self-driving cars will make natural delivery vehicles. Are you sure about that? Self-Driving cars are currently a very limited use case. They drive, but they haven't shown to be very adept at more anomalous behavior that humans can do, such as following detour signs, following traffic officer signaling at intersections, or finding parking spots in locations where they are unlikely to be towed. Furthermore, when you…
Your first paragraph is fairly easily solved with data. When self driving cars are common, there will no doubt be police databases with information about detours and parking etc. Given that, they will do a much better job than humans trying to find and read signs. The other parts of delivery are more of a problem. But remember at one time we thought it was necessary to have humans pump gas, operate elevators, and dis…
You are limiting your thinking to one type of solution. You also forgot the one thing that will trump all this, the human mind. A criminal mind would easily be able to rip off all the goods in a situation with driver-less cars.
Re: The 800 Pound Gorilla Amazon Tried to Kill is Google's Trojan Horse
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
I envision getting a text. "Your pizza is here. Use code 4025 to open locker #24." "You have 20 seconds to comply." ;-) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzlt7IbTp6M
Forcing people to be home is bad enough, but now you are forcing them to drop everything they are doing. Not exactly an amazing customer experience.
I can just imagine the grandmother in a walking chair trying to get the package in a timely manner.
Re: The 800 Pound Gorilla Amazon Tried to Kill is Google's Trojan Horse
#60This might be nice for one off orders of brand name items but it doesn't look to really challenge Amazon or any e-retailer that manages its own inventory. There are at least two main issues I see: 1) Selection - It’s easy to sell the popular stuff. It’s hard to sell the tail of demand. Aggregating together big box retailers can never compete on selection. People want to order things together, from the same place. Sel…
If amazon's big plan is to gain a monopoly like status , which many investors think it is, this competition and price erosion is a big threat both to future amazon and it's current investors.
And hurting the stock is a good way as any to hurt a company.