4 ms·

Any company who uses Deliverr is going to quickly figure out that they have placed their most important business process in the hands of a third party, and that

by jbob2000 8y ago

Any company who uses Deliverr is going to quickly figure out that they have placed their most important business process in the hands of a third party, and that they have very little control over it. eBay, Wal-Mart, and Shopify are in the business of delivering products. They don't make the products, they make them available to the consumer. Delivery is like 90% of that. This is why amazon runs their own fulfillment centers, it's the most important part of their process. It would be better for eBay, Wal-Mart and Shopify to merge and compete against amazon as one, rather than fighting over the table scraps that amazon leaves them.

habbott 8y ago
I disagree with you on many fronts - First any business should ask for metrics on past performance and that is how you should judge the performance and not by assertions or business models - Case in point -- Taxis were fully controlled they all looked the same, the drivers were all trained the same way -- yet the consumer experience was bad. Then Uber/Lyft came in and they don't drive the taxis but they are able to orchestrate demand and supply and offer visibility and a better price to customers. So going by your analogy Taxis >> Uber. But I think it is settled that Uber/Lyft >> Taxi. Judge Uber/Lyft with their metrics such (a) time to get a taxi (b) on time delivery and (b) cost to consumer. And businesses and consumers are smart enough to do that. Second - marketplaces are in business of connecting buyers with sellers; laying out rules of engagement so trust is built for discovery and transaction. They are enablers. But a merchant participates in many markets and not just one. You cannot ask each marketplace to do fulfillment for the merchant because that will mean the merchant will have to predict and send inventory for eBay and Walmart and Shopify separately which is not efficient for anyone in the market.
- jbob2000 8y ago
  Ok, I hear you, but I think you're missing the forest for the trees - Why did amazon beat these businesses in the first place? It wasn't because they connected buyers with sellers, people have been doing that for decades. It has nothing to do with the rules of engagement, amazon is full of fake products and reviews. It wasn't because the user experience was bad, the amazon UX is pretty bad, it's very cluttered, and Shopify's UX is really impressive. Amazon beats Wal-Mart et al. because their delivery is faster. And that takes control. The difference between delivering in two days and delivering in three days comes down to seconds. And for what it's worth - Sometimes I am unable to get an Uber, but every time I call the taxi company, a taxi shows up. (All of this isn't to say Deliverr won't provide value, just that I am doubtful it can beat amazon)
  - saas_sam 8y ago
    >> And for what it's worth - Sometimes I am unable to get an Uber, but every time I call the taxi company, a taxi shows up. FWIW from me, I have had taxi companies fail to send me a taxi, or send me one hour+ after they said they would, every time I have called them in the small cities I've been in that didn't have uber. I can count the times I didn't get an uber when I wanted one on one hand, and I get dozens of them a week...
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - wpietri 8y ago
    Personally, I think Amazon's original advantage was definitely in a high-quality experience. (FWIW, I've been a customer since 1997, but didn't join Prime until 2010.) They used to have pretty reliable reviews and real products. They used to have better prices. And they used to have a much better user experience. What I really want is shopping as a utility. I want to spend the minimum time possible and get great results with no worries. Speedy delivery is sometimes part of that, but not always. If there were something as reliable as the Amazon of 2010 but defaulted to 3-day delivery for free, I'd switch in a heartbeat.
    - habbott 8y ago
      Interesting so in your opinion Amazon has gotten less reliable for you? In what regards ?
      - nickpsecurity 8y ago
        I'm with the other person saying much of the same thing. Far as less reliable, they might mean all the people and companies paid for fake reviews. Google for that to find a lot of reasons for not trusting Amazon results. Another thing Amazon is doing is competing with companies selling product through them. Competitors might differentiate a bit by making a deal, contract and/or charter, that they will never make products that compete with those using them as an intermediary. They'll always be a facilitator and nothing else far as those kind of contracts are concerned. That could help in that current and long-term risk might be reduced.
throwawayxx1 8y ago
Agreed. What happens if Amazon acquires deliverr after these companies fully dependent on deliverr?
- habbott 8y ago
  Having worked at Amazon; one of the things I respect a lot about Amazon is that they not competitor focussed - they really do not spend much time thinking about competition; they are maniacally customer focussed. I am sure Amazon is really working on upping the game on faster delivery whether is 1 day prime for large number of SKUs or same day.

habbott 8y ago

I disagree with you on many fronts - First any business should ask for metrics on past performance and that is how you should judge the performance and not by assertions or business models - Case in point -- Taxis were fully controlled they all looked the same, the drivers were all trained the same way -- yet the consumer experience was bad. Then Uber/Lyft came in and they don't drive the taxis but they are able to orchestrate demand and supply and offer visibility and a better price to customers. So going by your analogy Taxis >> Uber. But I think it is settled that Uber/Lyft >> Taxi. Judge Uber/Lyft with their metrics such (a) time to get a taxi (b) on time delivery and (b) cost to consumer. And businesses and consumers are smart enough to do that. Second - marketplaces are in business of connecting buyers with sellers; laying out rules of engagement so trust is built for discovery and transaction. They are enablers. But a merchant participates in many markets and not just one. You cannot ask each marketplace to do fulfillment for the merchant because that will mean the merchant will have to predict and send inventory for eBay and Walmart and Shopify separately which is not efficient for anyone in the market.

jbob2000 8y ago
Ok, I hear you, but I think you're missing the forest for the trees - Why did amazon beat these businesses in the first place? It wasn't because they connected buyers with sellers, people have been doing that for decades. It has nothing to do with the rules of engagement, amazon is full of fake products and reviews. It wasn't because the user experience was bad, the amazon UX is pretty bad, it's very cluttered, and Shopify's UX is really impressive. Amazon beats Wal-Mart et al. because their delivery is faster. And that takes control. The difference between delivering in two days and delivering in three days comes down to seconds. And for what it's worth - Sometimes I am unable to get an Uber, but every time I call the taxi company, a taxi shows up. (All of this isn't to say Deliverr won't provide value, just that I am doubtful it can beat amazon)
- saas_sam 8y ago
  >> And for what it's worth - Sometimes I am unable to get an Uber, but every time I call the taxi company, a taxi shows up. FWIW from me, I have had taxi companies fail to send me a taxi, or send me one hour+ after they said they would, every time I have called them in the small cities I've been in that didn't have uber. I can count the times I didn't get an uber when I wanted one on one hand, and I get dozens of them a week...
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- wpietri 8y ago
  Personally, I think Amazon's original advantage was definitely in a high-quality experience. (FWIW, I've been a customer since 1997, but didn't join Prime until 2010.) They used to have pretty reliable reviews and real products. They used to have better prices. And they used to have a much better user experience. What I really want is shopping as a utility. I want to spend the minimum time possible and get great results with no worries. Speedy delivery is sometimes part of that, but not always. If there were something as reliable as the Amazon of 2010 but defaulted to 3-day delivery for free, I'd switch in a heartbeat.
  - habbott 8y ago
    Interesting so in your opinion Amazon has gotten less reliable for you? In what regards ?
    - nickpsecurity 8y ago
      I'm with the other person saying much of the same thing. Far as less reliable, they might mean all the people and companies paid for fake reviews. Google for that to find a lot of reasons for not trusting Amazon results. Another thing Amazon is doing is competing with companies selling product through them. Competitors might differentiate a bit by making a deal, contract and/or charter, that they will never make products that compete with those using them as an intermediary. They'll always be a facilitator and nothing else far as those kind of contracts are concerned. That could help in that current and long-term risk might be reduced.

throwawayxx1 8y ago

Agreed. What happens if Amazon acquires deliverr after these companies fully dependent on deliverr?

habbott 8y ago
Having worked at Amazon; one of the things I respect a lot about Amazon is that they not competitor focussed - they really do not spend much time thinking about competition; they are maniacally customer focussed. I am sure Amazon is really working on upping the game on faster delivery whether is 1 day prime for large number of SKUs or same day.