3 ms·

There is also a problem of large companies making it seem like they don't make money, through complex financial montages, when in fact they do.

adventured 9y ago
What does that have to do with Amazon? Their financials are public information, show me where they're hiding the massive cash production, because they must be hiding it from shareholders as well. Amazon is still primarily a retailer, one with historically horrific margins. The segment has notoriously bad margins in general (Costco & Walmart: typical ~2% net income margins, with very high income tax rates). Then there's Amazon, spending like crazy since its inception to fund growth. It makes perfect sense that they wouldn't be generating much in the way of profit versus their revenue.
- developer2 9y ago
  Saying that Walmart has "notoriously bad margins" makes it sound like they're working at a disadvantage. Walmart's margins aren't low out of necessity. Their entire business is purposely built around low margins, and refusing to hire full time employees with benefits, etc. It's intentional on their part - there is no sob story about margins there. Same goes for Amazon et al. The business strategy is to crush every small retailer by operating at slim to no margins, purely to make it impossible for anyone else to compete.
  - pas 9y ago
    > The business strategy is to crush every small retailer by operating at slim to no margins, purely to make it impossible for anyone else to compete. Large retailers compete against each other. Small retailers can't do much anyhow. (Especially in heavily car based areas, if you have to go just a few more minutes and you can find more and cheaper products, why would you stop at a small shop?)
    - conradk 9y ago
      You are being subjective here. Maybe you like driving for more and cheaper products, but not everyone is like you: not everyone drives, not everyones wants to drive, some people prefer supporting small shops than big ones, etc, etc.
      - pas 9y ago
        I don't like to drive, I like small shops, and luckily where I live we have a healthy dose of small groceries. (But they are part of large chains.)

adventured 9y ago

What does that have to do with Amazon? Their financials are public information, show me where they're hiding the massive cash production, because they must be hiding it from shareholders as well. Amazon is still primarily a retailer, one with historically horrific margins. The segment has notoriously bad margins in general (Costco & Walmart: typical ~2% net income margins, with very high income tax rates). Then there's Amazon, spending like crazy since its inception to fund growth. It makes perfect sense that they wouldn't be generating much in the way of profit versus their revenue.

developer2 9y ago
Saying that Walmart has "notoriously bad margins" makes it sound like they're working at a disadvantage. Walmart's margins aren't low out of necessity. Their entire business is purposely built around low margins, and refusing to hire full time employees with benefits, etc. It's intentional on their part - there is no sob story about margins there. Same goes for Amazon et al. The business strategy is to crush every small retailer by operating at slim to no margins, purely to make it impossible for anyone else to compete.
- pas 9y ago
  > The business strategy is to crush every small retailer by operating at slim to no margins, purely to make it impossible for anyone else to compete. Large retailers compete against each other. Small retailers can't do much anyhow. (Especially in heavily car based areas, if you have to go just a few more minutes and you can find more and cheaper products, why would you stop at a small shop?)
  - conradk 9y ago
    You are being subjective here. Maybe you like driving for more and cheaper products, but not everyone is like you: not everyone drives, not everyones wants to drive, some people prefer supporting small shops than big ones, etc, etc.
    - pas 9y ago
      I don't like to drive, I like small shops, and luckily where I live we have a healthy dose of small groceries. (But they are part of large chains.)