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One fascinating niche are online retailers which fill market voids Amazon deliberately creates out of corporate policy. For instance in the US one can readily p

One fascinating niche are online retailers which fill market voids Amazon deliberately creates out of corporate policy. For instance in the US one can readily purchase firearms and ammunition through the internet. Due to various legal formalities, Amazon won't touch that particular market segment. Visiting sites like www.sgammo.com, www.palmettostatearmory.com, or www.midwayusa.com, is like stepping into an uncanny PHP laden alternate reality where Amazon never existed. This federation of specialized retailers offers a glimpse into what the online shopping experience _could_ have become, if it weren't for Amazon's hegemony.

kerbalspacepro 9y ago
It doesn't sound that great, to be honest. None of those tiny institutions could ever reach the same amount of consumer trust that Amazon has engendered with its customer service/experience.
- kjhlkjh 9y ago
  Agreed, it's one of those "be careful what you wish for" scenarios. A bunch of smaller retailers with disjointed UX and idiosyncratic service policies is the alternative to a giant monolith such as Amazon.
  - ghthor 9y ago
    Or, you know, we could work together to build a standard protocol so anyone could start an online retailing site and interop with any other online marketplace. Lack of cooperation builds these monopolies like Google and Amazon.
    - kogepathic 9y ago
      > we could work together to build a standard protocol so anyone could start an online retailing site and interop with any other online marketplace. https://xkcd.com/927/ https://xkcd.com/927/ If I recall correctly, US telcos couldn't even agree on which mobile payment system to use, because every company wanted to partner with someone and get a larger piece of the pie. Now it seems the only mobile payment system anyone actually uses is Apple Pay. That anecdote aside, I agree it would be awesome if such a standard existed. I just don't see it working out since retail is such a cut throat business and everyone will be looking to undercut their competitors. Remember, competition is good for the consumer and bad for companies.
- fweespeech 9y ago
  > It doesn't sound that great, to be honest. None of those tiny institutions could ever reach the same amount of consumer trust that Amazon has engendered with its customer service/experience. You are paying for that trust. For instance, right now, Amazon is charging $69.00 for a shoe we sell for $62.25 (including the item we list on their site, including shipping, etc.) This is universally true for every item Amazon has cut us out on. It defaults to "Ships and Sold from Amazon.com" despite the fact they are the higher price. Personally, at this point, I'd rather buy from smaller retailers. If you ever look outside of Amazon for "niche" items you'll start to notice Amazon stops being cheaper. Try looking at some of the clothing brands, the Guns&Ammo dystopia is unique to their industry. :P To be honest, I'm surprised their valuation is what it is given I genuinely don't see how they can raise prices more than they have. Charging an extra 10% over your competitors is really already pushing the envelope as far as can be done.
  - kjhlkjh 9y ago
    I think comparing online clothing retailers to firearms retailers is a bit of an apples to oranges comparison. Everyone needs clothing, firearms not so much... Because of this clothing retailers have a much larger client base to draw from, and thus there's more money pumped into their sites. Firearms are a niche good, so the base they draw from is much smaller. Many other niche goods have effectively been absorbed into the Amazon monolith. If Amazon (or equivalent) were to not exist, many of these goods would have their own small niche retailers. These small retailers would have minimal capital, cue PHP hell.
    - fweespeech 9y ago
      > I think comparing online clothing retailers to firearms retailers is a bit of an apples to oranges comparison. Everyone needs clothing, firearms not so much... Because of this clothing retailers have a much larger client base to draw from, and thus there's more money pumped into their sites. Firearms are a niche good, so the base they draw from is much smaller. Many other niche goods have effectively been absorbed into the Amazon monolith. If Amazon (or equivalent) were to not exist, many of these goods would have their own small niche retailers. These small retailers would have minimal capital, cue PHP hell. The clothing I'm talking about is pretty niche as well. It isn't everyday clothes/shoes.
- thesagan 9y ago
  I kind of like having a selection to choose from, like restaurants. I even still like the older, less-polished ones from time-to-time. (As long as the food checks out, which is pretty easy to handle.) Same with online retailing – I like the choice and the good feeling that Amazon has to keep trying to earn my business. I don't want too much Amazon homogeny for the same reasons I wouldn't want too much, say, Walmart homogeny. Or Ford dominating autos.
forgottenpass 9y ago
Great just-so story. Here's a completely opposite one: Every last online retailer would use shopping carts apps of the highest quality if Amazon didn't have such a huge market share. But the shopping cart developers saw the writing on the wall of an encroaching amazon and got out. If they hadn't, everyone who wanted to sell something online would have easy access to a multitude of of hosting platforms explicitly target merchants. And because they're in competition with eachother, the quaility of their platforms in this hypothetical is better than IRL-Amazon's local maximum.

kerbalspacepro 9y ago

It doesn't sound that great, to be honest. None of those tiny institutions could ever reach the same amount of consumer trust that Amazon has engendered with its customer service/experience.

kjhlkjh 9y ago
Agreed, it's one of those "be careful what you wish for" scenarios. A bunch of smaller retailers with disjointed UX and idiosyncratic service policies is the alternative to a giant monolith such as Amazon.
- ghthor 9y ago
  Or, you know, we could work together to build a standard protocol so anyone could start an online retailing site and interop with any other online marketplace. Lack of cooperation builds these monopolies like Google and Amazon.
  - kogepathic 9y ago
    > we could work together to build a standard protocol so anyone could start an online retailing site and interop with any other online marketplace. https://xkcd.com/927/ https://xkcd.com/927/ If I recall correctly, US telcos couldn't even agree on which mobile payment system to use, because every company wanted to partner with someone and get a larger piece of the pie. Now it seems the only mobile payment system anyone actually uses is Apple Pay. That anecdote aside, I agree it would be awesome if such a standard existed. I just don't see it working out since retail is such a cut throat business and everyone will be looking to undercut their competitors. Remember, competition is good for the consumer and bad for companies.
fweespeech 9y ago
> It doesn't sound that great, to be honest. None of those tiny institutions could ever reach the same amount of consumer trust that Amazon has engendered with its customer service/experience. You are paying for that trust. For instance, right now, Amazon is charging $69.00 for a shoe we sell for $62.25 (including the item we list on their site, including shipping, etc.) This is universally true for every item Amazon has cut us out on. It defaults to "Ships and Sold from Amazon.com" despite the fact they are the higher price. Personally, at this point, I'd rather buy from smaller retailers. If you ever look outside of Amazon for "niche" items you'll start to notice Amazon stops being cheaper. Try looking at some of the clothing brands, the Guns&Ammo dystopia is unique to their industry. :P To be honest, I'm surprised their valuation is what it is given I genuinely don't see how they can raise prices more than they have. Charging an extra 10% over your competitors is really already pushing the envelope as far as can be done.
- kjhlkjh 9y ago
  I think comparing online clothing retailers to firearms retailers is a bit of an apples to oranges comparison. Everyone needs clothing, firearms not so much... Because of this clothing retailers have a much larger client base to draw from, and thus there's more money pumped into their sites. Firearms are a niche good, so the base they draw from is much smaller. Many other niche goods have effectively been absorbed into the Amazon monolith. If Amazon (or equivalent) were to not exist, many of these goods would have their own small niche retailers. These small retailers would have minimal capital, cue PHP hell.
  - fweespeech 9y ago
    > I think comparing online clothing retailers to firearms retailers is a bit of an apples to oranges comparison. Everyone needs clothing, firearms not so much... Because of this clothing retailers have a much larger client base to draw from, and thus there's more money pumped into their sites. Firearms are a niche good, so the base they draw from is much smaller. Many other niche goods have effectively been absorbed into the Amazon monolith. If Amazon (or equivalent) were to not exist, many of these goods would have their own small niche retailers. These small retailers would have minimal capital, cue PHP hell. The clothing I'm talking about is pretty niche as well. It isn't everyday clothes/shoes.
thesagan 9y ago
I kind of like having a selection to choose from, like restaurants. I even still like the older, less-polished ones from time-to-time. (As long as the food checks out, which is pretty easy to handle.) Same with online retailing – I like the choice and the good feeling that Amazon has to keep trying to earn my business. I don't want too much Amazon homogeny for the same reasons I wouldn't want too much, say, Walmart homogeny. Or Ford dominating autos.

forgottenpass 9y ago

Great just-so story. Here's a completely opposite one: Every last online retailer would use shopping carts apps of the highest quality if Amazon didn't have such a huge market share. But the shopping cart developers saw the writing on the wall of an encroaching amazon and got out. If they hadn't, everyone who wanted to sell something online would have easy access to a multitude of of hosting platforms explicitly target merchants. And because they're in competition with eachother, the quaility of their platforms in this hypothetical is better than IRL-Amazon's local maximum.