10 ms·

I would like to see a UPS-Walmart or FedEx-Costco merger. And the reason I'd like to see that is to restore some competitive balance to the retail marketplace.

by rrggrr 10y ago

I would like to see a UPS-Walmart or FedEx-Costco merger. And the reason I'd like to see that is to restore some competitive balance to the retail marketplace. I say this as a frequent Amazon customer, concerned about the long term.

emodendroket 10y ago
I'm not sure those kind of mergers would really restore competitive balance.
- echelon 10y ago
  It'd be a start... Amazon is going to own the entire market if something isn't done.
  - emodendroket 10y ago
    Seems like a DOJ interested in antitrust is the real answer to that kind of problem.
bogomipz 10y ago
You realize that the explosion of Walmarts didn't do a lot to foster a competitive balance right?
- tdb7893 10y ago
  I feel life Walmart did a good job forcing other retailers to up their game. They also certainly aren't the only retailers in town so it seems to me that competition is alive and well in that space but I guess that might be different depending on where you live
  - bogomipz 10y ago
    >"I feel life Walmart did a good job forcing other retailers to up their game." Can you explain how exactly?
    - mattnewton 10y ago
      Up their game meaning, either go up market or go out of the buisiness maybe.
    - tdb7893 10y ago
      Lower prices or go out of business. The problem is that many retailers just couldn't compete EDIT: Walmart is also more convenient than most other businesses because you can get everything in one place
    - nightski 10y ago
      Do you think people went to Walmart "just because"? They avoided all those amazing local shops to go to Walmart because it was worse? There were many advantages of Walmart at the time. Perception of lower prices, much more convenient hours (many local shops closed at 5-6), better product selection with frequently updated stock, etc... I'm wondering if there aren't quite a few on HN that don't even know what a pre-Walmart world was like, especially in smaller cities/towns.
      - bogomipz 10y ago
        >"Do you think people went to Walmart "just because"? They avoided all those amazing local shops to go to Walmart because it was worse? I don't have a Walmart near me, I live in city where there isn't one, I actually don't know much about the Walmart experience. So its not really such an obvious question is it? >"I'm wondering if there aren't quite a few on HN that don't even know what a pre-Walmart world was like, especially in smaller cities/towns." Not only am I old enough to remember pre-Walmart but I'm also old enough to remember Pre-Internet. Your comments are both presumptuous and arrogant.
        losteverything 10y ago
- up_and_up 10y ago
  Explosion of Walmarts killed a ton of competition, including my dads' sporting goods business.
- bsder 10y ago
  > You realize that the explosion of Walmarts didn't do a lot to foster a competitive balance right? You're probably not old enough to remember when Sears and A&P were fearsome monopolies ... Anyhow, as much as I hate WalMart, I will go to a WalMart in preference to almost ANYTHING local in small town America. I do remember "old school" small town American businesses--yes, they were slow. But they had lots of oddball stock, gave good advice, and, they would give you a slow deadline, but they would move heaven and earth to make sure that they hit it if something went wrong. About 1990, or so, that all changed in small town America. Inventories went to shit. Advice became laughable. And deadlines became optional. At that point, why shouldn't I go to WalMart?
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - cylinder 10y ago
    Don't you think that decline could be explained by the rise of Walmart?
    - bsder 10y ago
      It occurred before WalMart. The biggest problem was that areas switched from growth to contraction. Once that happened, everybody tightened their belts and customer service along with inventory are the first to go. Unfortunately, while that may get you through the next quarter, it kills you in the long run.
kcorbitt 10y ago
I'll be worried about a potential Amazon monopoly if they keep increasing market share for the next 20 years. But I don't think that will happen -- the Internet seems to have a way of shaking even apparently unassailable monopolies on very short timelines. As a personal example, I've already moved a lot of my purchasing from Amazon to AliExpress. For anything small, fairly cheap, and that I don't need this week, I search AliExpress first. Quality can be uneven and you sometimes have to read between the lines on the reviews, but you can often find items identical to those on Amazon at 1/5-1/10 the price (eg. I just bought 3 sleeved baby bibs on AliExpress for $1.80/ea -- the going price on Amazon seems to be $16).
- gumby 10y ago
  > (eg. I just bought 3 sleeved baby bibs on AliExpress for $1.80/ea -- the going price on Amazon seems to be $16). I couldn't help but wonder if there is such an explosion of babies with more than two arms that there could be a competitive market in bibs with three sleeves!
- nuane 10y ago
  With RadioShack going under, AliExpress is my goto for basic electronic components, but it can be painful when you need to wait 3 weeks for a new part to arrive. But I don't like how Amazon because of how they treat their workers. Maybe the engineering positions are awesome, but warehouse workers and deliverers seem to be worse off than a Wal-Mart employee 10 years ago
  - JCharante 10y ago
    > Maybe the engineering positions are awesome I've read only some teams are awesome while the rest are in an infinite loop waiting for more stock to vest.
  - grogenaut 10y ago
    why not digikey?
  - eagletusk 10y ago
    3 weeks for electronic components, you have extreme patience, I would have mostly given up on the project if that much time elapsed.

by rrggrr 10y ago

emodendroket 10y ago

I'm not sure those kind of mergers would really restore competitive balance.

echelon 10y ago
It'd be a start... Amazon is going to own the entire market if something isn't done.
- emodendroket 10y ago
  Seems like a DOJ interested in antitrust is the real answer to that kind of problem.

bogomipz 10y ago

You realize that the explosion of Walmarts didn't do a lot to foster a competitive balance right?

tdb7893 10y ago
I feel life Walmart did a good job forcing other retailers to up their game. They also certainly aren't the only retailers in town so it seems to me that competition is alive and well in that space but I guess that might be different depending on where you live
- bogomipz 10y ago
  >"I feel life Walmart did a good job forcing other retailers to up their game." Can you explain how exactly?
  - mattnewton 10y ago
    Up their game meaning, either go up market or go out of the buisiness maybe.
  - tdb7893 10y ago
    Lower prices or go out of business. The problem is that many retailers just couldn't compete EDIT: Walmart is also more convenient than most other businesses because you can get everything in one place
  - nightski 10y ago
    Do you think people went to Walmart "just because"? They avoided all those amazing local shops to go to Walmart because it was worse? There were many advantages of Walmart at the time. Perception of lower prices, much more convenient hours (many local shops closed at 5-6), better product selection with frequently updated stock, etc... I'm wondering if there aren't quite a few on HN that don't even know what a pre-Walmart world was like, especially in smaller cities/towns.
    - bogomipz 10y ago
      >"Do you think people went to Walmart "just because"? They avoided all those amazing local shops to go to Walmart because it was worse? I don't have a Walmart near me, I live in city where there isn't one, I actually don't know much about the Walmart experience. So its not really such an obvious question is it? >"I'm wondering if there aren't quite a few on HN that don't even know what a pre-Walmart world was like, especially in smaller cities/towns." Not only am I old enough to remember pre-Walmart but I'm also old enough to remember Pre-Internet. Your comments are both presumptuous and arrogant.
      - losteverything 10y ago
up_and_up 10y ago
Explosion of Walmarts killed a ton of competition, including my dads' sporting goods business.
bsder 10y ago
> You realize that the explosion of Walmarts didn't do a lot to foster a competitive balance right? You're probably not old enough to remember when Sears and A&P were fearsome monopolies ... Anyhow, as much as I hate WalMart, I will go to a WalMart in preference to almost ANYTHING local in small town America. I do remember "old school" small town American businesses--yes, they were slow. But they had lots of oddball stock, gave good advice, and, they would give you a slow deadline, but they would move heaven and earth to make sure that they hit it if something went wrong. About 1990, or so, that all changed in small town America. Inventories went to shit. Advice became laughable. And deadlines became optional. At that point, why shouldn't I go to WalMart?
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- cylinder 10y ago
  Don't you think that decline could be explained by the rise of Walmart?
  - bsder 10y ago
    It occurred before WalMart. The biggest problem was that areas switched from growth to contraction. Once that happened, everybody tightened their belts and customer service along with inventory are the first to go. Unfortunately, while that may get you through the next quarter, it kills you in the long run.

kcorbitt 10y ago

I'll be worried about a potential Amazon monopoly if they keep increasing market share for the next 20 years. But I don't think that will happen -- the Internet seems to have a way of shaking even apparently unassailable monopolies on very short timelines. As a personal example, I've already moved a lot of my purchasing from Amazon to AliExpress. For anything small, fairly cheap, and that I don't need this week, I search AliExpress first. Quality can be uneven and you sometimes have to read between the lines on the reviews, but you can often find items identical to those on Amazon at 1/5-1/10 the price (eg. I just bought 3 sleeved baby bibs on AliExpress for $1.80/ea -- the going price on Amazon seems to be $16).

gumby 10y ago
> (eg. I just bought 3 sleeved baby bibs on AliExpress for $1.80/ea -- the going price on Amazon seems to be $16). I couldn't help but wonder if there is such an explosion of babies with more than two arms that there could be a competitive market in bibs with three sleeves!
nuane 10y ago
With RadioShack going under, AliExpress is my goto for basic electronic components, but it can be painful when you need to wait 3 weeks for a new part to arrive. But I don't like how Amazon because of how they treat their workers. Maybe the engineering positions are awesome, but warehouse workers and deliverers seem to be worse off than a Wal-Mart employee 10 years ago
- JCharante 10y ago
  > Maybe the engineering positions are awesome I've read only some teams are awesome while the rest are in an infinite loop waiting for more stock to vest.
- grogenaut 10y ago
  why not digikey?
- eagletusk 10y ago
  3 weeks for electronic components, you have extreme patience, I would have mostly given up on the project if that much time elapsed.