5 ms·

Jet.com Runs into Turbulence with Retailers

28 points by r0h1n 11y ago

noer 11y ago
That particular link has a paywall.
- michael_h 11y ago
  Go here: https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&gl=us&tbm=nws&authuser=0&q=Jet.com+Runs+Into+Turbulence+With+Retailers&oq=Jet.com+Runs+Into+Turbulence+With+Retailers https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&gl=us&tbm=nws&authuser=0... Then click the (probably) first link.
  - noer 11y ago
    thank you!
  - calvin 11y ago
    It failed for me because I'd already clicked the link and they set a cookie. Solution: open the search in an ncognito window or privacy window, and then click through to WSJ. Chrome: COMMAND-SHIFT-N Firefox: COMMAND-SHIFT-P
- asquabventured 11y ago
  You could install refspoof plugin and set your referrer to https://news.google.com https://news.google.com for site wsj.com
  - bdcravens 11y ago
    "Wait Google Sent Me" plugin also works.
    - codewithcheese 11y ago
      Do you still have that installed? It seems to have been removed from the Chrome store shortly after it trended on HN as far as I can tell.
      - bdcravens 11y ago
        I do - I was unaware that it was removed.
HelloThereSir 11y ago
I wouldn't associate with them either when they can't mitigate basic SQL injection: https://jet.com/search?term=%27%20OR%201*1=1*1%27 https://jet.com/search?term=%27%20OR%201*1=1*1%27
- ctvo 11y ago
  OK that's hilarious.
- shoebar 11y ago
  pretty sure this is because they use ElasticSearch and have Groovy extensions enabled. Doubtful that any website trying to reach scale would use a sql db for search.
- ladon86 11y ago
  Having logical URLs for your search results isn't SQL injection: https://jet.com/search?term=Sony%20OR%20Samsung https://jet.com/search?term=Sony%20OR%20Samsung Look, it even guessed the product category based on my search term. Back in the day search engines used to have these things called logical operators, then basically Google deprecated them.
- dsugarman 11y ago
  except that they use EventStore as their main db.. [1]https://qconnewyork.com/ny2014/presentation/event-driven-services-f-and-eventstore.html https://qconnewyork.com/ny2014/presentation/event-driven-ser...
- meragrin 11y ago
  Wouldn't https://jet.com/search?term=%27%20AND%203*1=2*1%27 https://jet.com/search?term=%27%20AND%203*1=2*1%27 be false if that were true?
wintom 11y ago
Jet is trying to save its customers money by not making a profit on the items they sell and offering all kinds of discounts from the commission they would have made all the way to the supply chain cost and passing all of that to the customer. It's not surprising that this model clashes with retailers they are not in the business of saving people money and they certainly see the disruption this will cause and the efficiencies it will force on them. They will have to get efficient to compete if this takes off.
- forthefuture 11y ago
  From what I understand Jet is just giving people the money from their affiliate links which is against the terms of most if not all affiliate programs.
  - stevesearer 11y ago
    But with most affiliate programs, customers would be buying through the retailers directly (which is how the affiliate sales are tracked) and receiving the items from those retailers. Does Jet have its own inventory like Amazon or are they just sending orders out to a variety of different online retailers?
    - jewel 11y ago
      I've been using jet extensively for a few months, whenever it's cheaper than amazon. A lot of the time it's cheaper than the in-store price at walmart. They definitely have their own inventory. Things like cereal and diapers ship in completely purple jet.com boxes (http://i.imgur.com/WUisXzH.jpg http://i.imgur.com/WUisXzH.jpg). It's only more obscure stuff that ships from other retailers. I think the idea is that they want to have a long tail of inventory and are willing to take a loss on those items for now, but for high-volume items they are already doing them in-house.
    - fahim305 11y ago
      Jet doesn't own the inventory, it's simply a marketplace model (similar to Amazon FBA, or most of Alibaba's business in Asia)
chkuendig 11y ago
So they are giving out cashback rewards for purchases on unaffiliated online shops? Sounds like selling at a loss but making it up on volume is back.
fahim305 11y ago
Jet's major value proposition was that it was supposed to be an attractive alternative option to Amazon for the Retailers and CPG companies. In the short run, that customer is probably more important than the end customer (similar to Airbnb initially with hosts vs. end users) because if they don't have the faith of the Retailers/CPGers, than this model fails very quickly
pbreit 11y ago
On one hand, it seems odd to complain about people driving sales of your stuff. On the other, is this really Jet's grand strategy?

28 points by r0h1n 11y ago

noer 11y ago

That particular link has a paywall.

michael_h 11y ago
Go here: https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&gl=us&tbm=nws&authuser=0&q=Jet.com+Runs+Into+Turbulence+With+Retailers&oq=Jet.com+Runs+Into+Turbulence+With+Retailers https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&gl=us&tbm=nws&authuser=0... Then click the (probably) first link.
- noer 11y ago
  thank you!
- calvin 11y ago
  It failed for me because I'd already clicked the link and they set a cookie. Solution: open the search in an ncognito window or privacy window, and then click through to WSJ. Chrome: COMMAND-SHIFT-N Firefox: COMMAND-SHIFT-P
asquabventured 11y ago
You could install refspoof plugin and set your referrer to https://news.google.com https://news.google.com for site wsj.com
- bdcravens 11y ago
  "Wait Google Sent Me" plugin also works.
  - codewithcheese 11y ago
    Do you still have that installed? It seems to have been removed from the Chrome store shortly after it trended on HN as far as I can tell.
    - bdcravens 11y ago
      I do - I was unaware that it was removed.

HelloThereSir 11y ago

I wouldn't associate with them either when they can't mitigate basic SQL injection: https://jet.com/search?term=%27%20OR%201*1=1*1%27 https://jet.com/search?term=%27%20OR%201*1=1*1%27

ctvo 11y ago
OK that's hilarious.
shoebar 11y ago
pretty sure this is because they use ElasticSearch and have Groovy extensions enabled. Doubtful that any website trying to reach scale would use a sql db for search.
ladon86 11y ago
Having logical URLs for your search results isn't SQL injection: https://jet.com/search?term=Sony%20OR%20Samsung https://jet.com/search?term=Sony%20OR%20Samsung Look, it even guessed the product category based on my search term. Back in the day search engines used to have these things called logical operators, then basically Google deprecated them.
dsugarman 11y ago
except that they use EventStore as their main db.. [1]https://qconnewyork.com/ny2014/presentation/event-driven-services-f-and-eventstore.html https://qconnewyork.com/ny2014/presentation/event-driven-ser...
meragrin 11y ago
Wouldn't https://jet.com/search?term=%27%20AND%203*1=2*1%27 https://jet.com/search?term=%27%20AND%203*1=2*1%27 be false if that were true?

wintom 11y ago

Jet is trying to save its customers money by not making a profit on the items they sell and offering all kinds of discounts from the commission they would have made all the way to the supply chain cost and passing all of that to the customer. It's not surprising that this model clashes with retailers they are not in the business of saving people money and they certainly see the disruption this will cause and the efficiencies it will force on them. They will have to get efficient to compete if this takes off.

forthefuture 11y ago
From what I understand Jet is just giving people the money from their affiliate links which is against the terms of most if not all affiliate programs.
- stevesearer 11y ago
  But with most affiliate programs, customers would be buying through the retailers directly (which is how the affiliate sales are tracked) and receiving the items from those retailers. Does Jet have its own inventory like Amazon or are they just sending orders out to a variety of different online retailers?
  - jewel 11y ago
    I've been using jet extensively for a few months, whenever it's cheaper than amazon. A lot of the time it's cheaper than the in-store price at walmart. They definitely have their own inventory. Things like cereal and diapers ship in completely purple jet.com boxes (http://i.imgur.com/WUisXzH.jpg http://i.imgur.com/WUisXzH.jpg). It's only more obscure stuff that ships from other retailers. I think the idea is that they want to have a long tail of inventory and are willing to take a loss on those items for now, but for high-volume items they are already doing them in-house.
  - fahim305 11y ago
    Jet doesn't own the inventory, it's simply a marketplace model (similar to Amazon FBA, or most of Alibaba's business in Asia)

chkuendig 11y ago

So they are giving out cashback rewards for purchases on unaffiliated online shops? Sounds like selling at a loss but making it up on volume is back.

fahim305 11y ago

Jet's major value proposition was that it was supposed to be an attractive alternative option to Amazon for the Retailers and CPG companies. In the short run, that customer is probably more important than the end customer (similar to Airbnb initially with hosts vs. end users) because if they don't have the faith of the Retailers/CPGers, than this model fails very quickly

pbreit 11y ago

On one hand, it seems odd to complain about people driving sales of your stuff. On the other, is this really Jet's grand strategy?