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This feels like a setup for a broader push into healthcare by these companies. The sector is still growing, Amazon is already working out the pharmacy space. "[

This feels like a setup for a broader push into healthcare by these companies. The sector is still growing, Amazon is already working out the pharmacy space. "[F]ree from profit-making incentives and constraints" sounds like the strategy they've used so far to dominate sections of online retail.

bpicolo 9y ago
They can tackle profit from other angles - sell medical supplies, etc.
- samfriedman 9y ago
  I think it would be irresponsible at best for Amazon to tackle the medical supply/device market before they can get their counterfeiting problem under control.
  - bpicolo 9y ago
    Presumably they wouldn't allow literally-anybody comingled inventory for that. It's trivial for them to regulate requiring first party or trusted party sales for that. They already sell it: https://www.amazon.com/Professional-Medical-Supplies/b?ie=UTF8&node=8297370011 https://www.amazon.com/Professional-Medical-Supplies/b?ie=UT...
  - IncRnd 9y ago
    It would be irresponsible at best for Amazon to tackle the medical supply/device market before they can learn to ship 20 items from the same fulfillment center on the same day in the same box instead of in 20 oversized but mostly empty boxes.
    - ceejayoz 9y ago
      Fulfillment centers are large enough that shipping them in individual boxes may actually be the cost-effective method at times. I've also heard they play a bit of a game of tetris to fill truck trailers in a way that completely stuffs them full enough that packages don't move around.
      - IncRnd 9y ago
        > Fulfillment centers are large enough that shipping them in individual boxes may actually be the cost-effective method at times. You missed half of what I wrote, "instead of in 20 oversized but mostly empty boxes." The context was in a single order from a single supplier, whose product was already at the warehouse, shipping on the same date, to the same address, for the same delivery date, using the same delivery carrier, of almost identical items that almost assuredly are on the warehouse shelves right next to each other. > I've also heard they play a bit of a game of tetris to fill truck trailers in a way that completely stuffs them full enough that packages don't move around. That may be the case, but I am referring to the incorrect packing of boxes not trucks.
        lttlrck 9y ago
        It may not be incorrect. It seems that if it was significantly affecting their bottom line it’d be a low-hanging optimization that they’d have tackled by now. FWIW this issue infuriates me also - to a degree
        ceejayoz 9y ago
        Hard to say without knowing the supplier's volume, the nature of the products, etc., but it's entirely possible given the nature of Amazon's warehouses that those "almost identical items" could be scattered all over. They could have arrived from the supplier in small batches (or even one-by-one) over time if it's a low-volume sort of thing. Amazon might intentionally spread them throughout the fulfillment center in some situations to expedite packing and reduce the distances their robots have to travel. They might have just needed twenty boxes to finish the tetris puzzle to send a truck out the door.
        deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
        dflock 9y ago
        > incorrectly packing boxes, not trucks. From Amazon's point of view, they're doing both correctly. Their algorithm apparently optimises for packing completely filled tucks leaving the warehouse first, then optimises for minimal packaging second. If they need a few more boxes of a particular size, to completely fill an outgoing truck, they will split some orders appropriately so that those boxes appear on the conveyor at the right moment. This means that sometimes you receive an SD card in an A4 size box, because that was the only item that was available when they needed an A4 box to fill a truck - and the algorithm decided that the trade-off was worth it.
mark-r 9y ago
I have some medical supplies that Amazon will sell me without a prescription. I used them last time because I neglected to order far enough ahead of time, and the game of tag between my doctor and my pharmacy would have taken too long - Amazon Prime to the rescue! Today I pick up a new prescription at my pharmacy, and I'm curious to know if my insurance copay is less than what Amazon charged. I'm guessing it could go 50-50 either way.
- mark-r 9y ago
  The verdict is in. Amazon with free Prime shipping: $18.90. CVS insurance co-pay: $22.50.

bpicolo 9y ago

They can tackle profit from other angles - sell medical supplies, etc.

samfriedman 9y ago
I think it would be irresponsible at best for Amazon to tackle the medical supply/device market before they can get their counterfeiting problem under control.
- bpicolo 9y ago
  Presumably they wouldn't allow literally-anybody comingled inventory for that. It's trivial for them to regulate requiring first party or trusted party sales for that. They already sell it: https://www.amazon.com/Professional-Medical-Supplies/b?ie=UTF8&node=8297370011 https://www.amazon.com/Professional-Medical-Supplies/b?ie=UT...
- IncRnd 9y ago
  It would be irresponsible at best for Amazon to tackle the medical supply/device market before they can learn to ship 20 items from the same fulfillment center on the same day in the same box instead of in 20 oversized but mostly empty boxes.
  - ceejayoz 9y ago
    Fulfillment centers are large enough that shipping them in individual boxes may actually be the cost-effective method at times. I've also heard they play a bit of a game of tetris to fill truck trailers in a way that completely stuffs them full enough that packages don't move around.
    - IncRnd 9y ago
      > Fulfillment centers are large enough that shipping them in individual boxes may actually be the cost-effective method at times. You missed half of what I wrote, "instead of in 20 oversized but mostly empty boxes." The context was in a single order from a single supplier, whose product was already at the warehouse, shipping on the same date, to the same address, for the same delivery date, using the same delivery carrier, of almost identical items that almost assuredly are on the warehouse shelves right next to each other. > I've also heard they play a bit of a game of tetris to fill truck trailers in a way that completely stuffs them full enough that packages don't move around. That may be the case, but I am referring to the incorrect packing of boxes not trucks.
      - lttlrck 9y ago
        It may not be incorrect. It seems that if it was significantly affecting their bottom line it’d be a low-hanging optimization that they’d have tackled by now. FWIW this issue infuriates me also - to a degree
      - ceejayoz 9y ago
        Hard to say without knowing the supplier's volume, the nature of the products, etc., but it's entirely possible given the nature of Amazon's warehouses that those "almost identical items" could be scattered all over. They could have arrived from the supplier in small batches (or even one-by-one) over time if it's a low-volume sort of thing. Amazon might intentionally spread them throughout the fulfillment center in some situations to expedite packing and reduce the distances their robots have to travel. They might have just needed twenty boxes to finish the tetris puzzle to send a truck out the door.
        deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
      - dflock 9y ago
        > incorrectly packing boxes, not trucks. From Amazon's point of view, they're doing both correctly. Their algorithm apparently optimises for packing completely filled tucks leaving the warehouse first, then optimises for minimal packaging second. If they need a few more boxes of a particular size, to completely fill an outgoing truck, they will split some orders appropriately so that those boxes appear on the conveyor at the right moment. This means that sometimes you receive an SD card in an A4 size box, because that was the only item that was available when they needed an A4 box to fill a truck - and the algorithm decided that the trade-off was worth it.

mark-r 9y ago

I have some medical supplies that Amazon will sell me without a prescription. I used them last time because I neglected to order far enough ahead of time, and the game of tag between my doctor and my pharmacy would have taken too long - Amazon Prime to the rescue! Today I pick up a new prescription at my pharmacy, and I'm curious to know if my insurance copay is less than what Amazon charged. I'm guessing it could go 50-50 either way.

mark-r 9y ago
The verdict is in. Amazon with free Prime shipping: $18.90. CVS insurance co-pay: $22.50.