3 ms·

Google Express is an interesting counter to this - the ease of online ordering while using the local stores as local inventory holders. It mostly works (though

by dgacmu 10y ago

Google Express is an interesting counter to this - the ease of online ordering while using the local stores as local inventory holders. It mostly works (though it doesn't do fresh groceries where I am). I comparison shop amazon vs. whatever's on express, and it's pretty common to find what I want more cheaply via a local vendor, particularly Costco. I really, really hope this model makes it possible for local shops to coexist with Amazon for those of us weird enough to want to shop online. (I say that because it's worth remembering that nobody posting here is "normal" from the perspective of consumer online habits.) I can't imagine local places are going to out-compete Amazon when it comes to high $/lb or $/cm^3 items where the amortized cost of shipping is low, or cases where it's something with very slowly-moving inventory, but shipping gallon jugs of vinegar is going to have a very hard time competing against Costco. (oblig. disclosure: Google's paying my salary this year but this comment has nothing to do with me hacking Tensorflow.)

petra 10y ago
First : According to research - "Shoppers see value and are willing to pay for the convenience of these services. A MAJORITY of shoppers consider $6 to $10 a reasonable fee for delivery to their homes, and $3 to $5 for in-vehicle or in-store pickups." And i would add - many would probably be willing to pay something between those numbers for delivery to a fast pickup point on their way from work. So what if we start talking about parcel lockers for food(as there are in some places), which increase last mile delivery productivity 10x according to some ? And if we designed robotic parcel lockers, built to height, so we could optimize land productivity ? And fully/mostly robotic order fulfillment ? And once eCommerce takes some grocery share, grocery prices will rise somewhat. And of course, online will have a larger selection(which tends to impact prices,by competition). It's not clear Costco will win.

by dgacmu 10y ago

petra 10y ago

First : According to research - "Shoppers see value and are willing to pay for the convenience of these services. A MAJORITY of shoppers consider $6 to $10 a reasonable fee for delivery to their homes, and $3 to $5 for in-vehicle or in-store pickups." And i would add - many would probably be willing to pay something between those numbers for delivery to a fast pickup point on their way from work. So what if we start talking about parcel lockers for food(as there are in some places), which increase last mile delivery productivity 10x according to some ? And if we designed robotic parcel lockers, built to height, so we could optimize land productivity ? And fully/mostly robotic order fulfillment ? And once eCommerce takes some grocery share, grocery prices will rise somewhat. And of course, online will have a larger selection(which tends to impact prices,by competition). It's not clear Costco will win.