4 ms·

I'm torn between wanting somebody to compete with Amazon and it being Walmart

by nebulous1 10y ago

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
eli 10y ago
Also Instacart and Google Express and Peapod.
- ghaff 10y ago
  Yes. This is somewhat newsworthy as it's another example of Uber/Lyft's interest in becoming more broadly-based logistics companies. However, grocery delivery already exists. It's just remained something of a niche. My speculation is that the reason is some combination of "I want to look at the produce," "I don't want to pay $10 for delivery," "I'm just not organized enough to sit down at my computer and input my order," and "I've always just gone to the grocery store." Personally, I find Walmart to be a mediocre grocery store that I only go to because it's convenient. Given the other options that already exist for me, I would have pretty much zero interest in getting delivery from Walmart. I'd be using Peapod if I wanted it.
- imroot 10y ago
  My issues with Instacart is that not every shopper knows how to shop for produce. I order avocados from instacart: They're all black on the inside when I cut into them. I order specialty chips or cheeses? They're marked as "Item out of stock," but when I run to the same grocery store that they shopped at after my delivery it's right there in plain sight to me. I order deli meat from Instacart? They ignore my comments about how I would like it to be sliced and deliver it to me shredded. Outside of that? I love instacart -- as long as they're packaged goods (pick and ship) and they're not hot deli items or cold/frozen items (I've had drivers put yogurt in the same bag as a lot of frozen veggies and peas and stuff that shouldn't have been frozen was frozen.)
  - massysett 10y ago
    When I shop for groceries about half of my bill is produce. I also need groceries every week to keep produce in the house. I don't trust anyone to pick out produce. So I have to go buy it. So it's not worth it to me to buy groceries online because I would only be buying non-produce. I do however buy some things on Amazon that otherwise we might buy in the grocery store, like diapers.
    - ghaff 10y ago
      I number of years back, I was on crutches with a broken foot and tried out Peapod for grocery delivery. It was "OK" but they were often out of things and items like produce were definitely hit or miss. At the time it was useful because I could drive and make my way through the store on crutches but couldn't easily do a full grocery shopping. Once I was back on my feet I stopped using them because, if I was going to the store anyway, having some of my groceries delivered wasn't much of a win. (I'm willing to believe that Instacart + Whole Foods, for example, is a better overall experience--for a premium. But it's not available where I live.)
lujim 10y ago
Walmart has a notoriously bad rap, but they are pretty progressive for a big evil company. Amazon seems to get a bit more slack even though I have read that working there is a horrible experience.
- jrcii 10y ago
  To second this, I've had three or four conversations with Amazon warehouse employees and all told me it was a terrible experience. One worked at a major distribution point in Pennsylvania and explained that in addition to being compelled to essentially run back and forth constantly to pick items, they refused to provide air conditioning in the middle of summer.
  - yardie 10y ago
    Which is kind of dumb. I'm guessing someone in Amazon ran the numbers and found that worker health, happiness, and heat exhaustion is still cheaper than air conditioning.
  - petra 10y ago
    AC is a bit of an high expectation for such large warehouses. But when working at static points(as with the kiva robots), there's no reason why they won't provide fans, at least.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- lfowles 10y ago
  The first place I encountered a working chip reader, even.
brudgers 10y ago
While I was caught up in the anti-Walmart meme [and I'm using "meme" dismissively] for many years, today Walmart provides jobs in my community and those jobs appear to be stable with regular shifts because I often see the same cashiers at the same times one year to the next. I'll add that Walmart also generates local sales and income tax revenue [and sometimes property tax] that helps make schools and roads and fire trucks possible. That's not to say either Amazon or Walmart is moral. It's more that because Walmart has a greater dependency on the commons around me and I believe its interests and mine are less orthogonal.
- ethanbond 10y ago
  Everyone in your town was unemployed, had irregular shifts, and didn't have a functional fire station before Walmart came to town? I think you're missing the nuance between "Walmart should leave," and "Walmart shouldn't have come." Of course, we can only act on the future, so maybe the nuance is meaningless at this point.
  - brudgers 10y ago
    No. That was not the case.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- tshtf 10y ago
  Sure, Walmart provides jobs in your community... But they cost state and federal taxpayers in a significant way. Walmart's business model depends on state and federal government assistance to their low-paid workers: http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/the-high-public-cost-of-low-wages/ http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/the-high-public-cost-of-low-... It is true that Walmart brings in local revenues through sales and property taxes, however this is more than offset by the assistance state and federal governments have to provide to low-wage Walmart workers: https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/04/15/we-are-spending-153-billion-a-year-to-subsidize-mcdonalds-and-walmarts-low-wage-workers/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/04/15/...

I'm torn between wanting somebody to compete with Amazon and it being Walmart

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

eli 10y ago

Also Instacart and Google Express and Peapod.

ghaff 10y ago
Yes. This is somewhat newsworthy as it's another example of Uber/Lyft's interest in becoming more broadly-based logistics companies. However, grocery delivery already exists. It's just remained something of a niche. My speculation is that the reason is some combination of "I want to look at the produce," "I don't want to pay $10 for delivery," "I'm just not organized enough to sit down at my computer and input my order," and "I've always just gone to the grocery store." Personally, I find Walmart to be a mediocre grocery store that I only go to because it's convenient. Given the other options that already exist for me, I would have pretty much zero interest in getting delivery from Walmart. I'd be using Peapod if I wanted it.
imroot 10y ago
My issues with Instacart is that not every shopper knows how to shop for produce. I order avocados from instacart: They're all black on the inside when I cut into them. I order specialty chips or cheeses? They're marked as "Item out of stock," but when I run to the same grocery store that they shopped at after my delivery it's right there in plain sight to me. I order deli meat from Instacart? They ignore my comments about how I would like it to be sliced and deliver it to me shredded. Outside of that? I love instacart -- as long as they're packaged goods (pick and ship) and they're not hot deli items or cold/frozen items (I've had drivers put yogurt in the same bag as a lot of frozen veggies and peas and stuff that shouldn't have been frozen was frozen.)
- massysett 10y ago
  When I shop for groceries about half of my bill is produce. I also need groceries every week to keep produce in the house. I don't trust anyone to pick out produce. So I have to go buy it. So it's not worth it to me to buy groceries online because I would only be buying non-produce. I do however buy some things on Amazon that otherwise we might buy in the grocery store, like diapers.
  - ghaff 10y ago
    I number of years back, I was on crutches with a broken foot and tried out Peapod for grocery delivery. It was "OK" but they were often out of things and items like produce were definitely hit or miss. At the time it was useful because I could drive and make my way through the store on crutches but couldn't easily do a full grocery shopping. Once I was back on my feet I stopped using them because, if I was going to the store anyway, having some of my groceries delivered wasn't much of a win. (I'm willing to believe that Instacart + Whole Foods, for example, is a better overall experience--for a premium. But it's not available where I live.)

lujim 10y ago

Walmart has a notoriously bad rap, but they are pretty progressive for a big evil company. Amazon seems to get a bit more slack even though I have read that working there is a horrible experience.

jrcii 10y ago
To second this, I've had three or four conversations with Amazon warehouse employees and all told me it was a terrible experience. One worked at a major distribution point in Pennsylvania and explained that in addition to being compelled to essentially run back and forth constantly to pick items, they refused to provide air conditioning in the middle of summer.
- yardie 10y ago
  Which is kind of dumb. I'm guessing someone in Amazon ran the numbers and found that worker health, happiness, and heat exhaustion is still cheaper than air conditioning.
- petra 10y ago
  AC is a bit of an high expectation for such large warehouses. But when working at static points(as with the kiva robots), there's no reason why they won't provide fans, at least.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
lfowles 10y ago
The first place I encountered a working chip reader, even.

brudgers 10y ago

While I was caught up in the anti-Walmart meme [and I'm using "meme" dismissively] for many years, today Walmart provides jobs in my community and those jobs appear to be stable with regular shifts because I often see the same cashiers at the same times one year to the next. I'll add that Walmart also generates local sales and income tax revenue [and sometimes property tax] that helps make schools and roads and fire trucks possible. That's not to say either Amazon or Walmart is moral. It's more that because Walmart has a greater dependency on the commons around me and I believe its interests and mine are less orthogonal.

ethanbond 10y ago
Everyone in your town was unemployed, had irregular shifts, and didn't have a functional fire station before Walmart came to town? I think you're missing the nuance between "Walmart should leave," and "Walmart shouldn't have come." Of course, we can only act on the future, so maybe the nuance is meaningless at this point.
- brudgers 10y ago
  No. That was not the case.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
tshtf 10y ago
Sure, Walmart provides jobs in your community... But they cost state and federal taxpayers in a significant way. Walmart's business model depends on state and federal government assistance to their low-paid workers: http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/the-high-public-cost-of-low-wages/ http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/the-high-public-cost-of-low-... It is true that Walmart brings in local revenues through sales and property taxes, however this is more than offset by the assistance state and federal governments have to provide to low-wage Walmart workers: https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/04/15/we-are-spending-153-billion-a-year-to-subsidize-mcdonalds-and-walmarts-low-wage-workers/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/04/15/...