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I agree with this, but it's also true that until recently Amazon usually had all those advantages and lower prices. The change is meaningful both as a revealed
by Bartweiss 8y ago
I agree with this, but it's also true that until recently Amazon usually had all those advantages and lower prices.
The change is meaningful both as a revealed strategy, and as a new datapoint about the fear of stores becoming "Amazon showrooms". For quite a while, it's been true that even after you're at Walmart or Target, comparing multiple items you couldn't evaluate well online, it was cheaper to drive home empty-handed and buy from Amazon - which is obviously unsustainable for someone. If that ceases to be true, we might see a more natural dichotomy where stores retain an edge on "see it in person" and "want it now" items while drawing back on their competition "any one will do, whenever" goods that are more convenient via Amazon.
- SteveCoast 8y agoI agree if the prices are now really higher. They don't "feel" higher to me. Here's cat litter that's $17.49 (one of the root comments mentioned this but it might not be the identical product): https://camelcamelcamel.com/Dr-Elseys-Premium-Clumping-Litter/product/B0009X29WK?context=search https://camelcamelcamel.com/Dr-Elseys-Premium-Clumping-Litte... Looks like the price has been going sideways for 4 years with some noise up and down, and before that, come down a lot?
- alyandon 8y agoI buy that exact litter on a regular basis from Amazon. What happens is that Amazon periodically runs out of stock and the price jumps because all of the 3rd party sellers have much higher prices than Amazon.