4 ms·

>A second order effect would be the rise of a regional competitor to fill the vacuum. No, it wouldn't. Amazon in the US is amazing compared to what Amazon is i

>A second order effect would be the rise of a regional competitor to fill the vacuum. No, it wouldn't. Amazon in the US is amazing compared to what Amazon is in Europe. Packages take a lot longer to arrive and the choice is much worse. There isn't even a central Amazon EU website! Yet no competitors exist. Absolutely nothing is even close to Amazon. For whatever reason, the EU market is incredibly behind in these kinds of services.

starfallg 7y ago
I'm not sure you are as familiar with the online marketplaces in Europe as you claim to be. Amazon set up separate national operations in the EU due to social, regulatory and tax reasons. Also digital e-commerce retailers are prevalent in all EU countries. Amazon is only one of many players. In fact, logistics over here is much better developed than the US. Most items can be next day delivered here in the UK for a low standard charge. Amazon has to offer same-day deliveries to the UK at a much higher level than the US in order to compete and maintain its competitive advantage.
- Mirioron 7y ago
  >Most items can be next day delivered here in the UK for a low standard charge. Cool. What about the rest of Europe/the EU? I am in an EU country and ordering anything from any of the Amazons has a minimum delivery time of 1 week. Usually it's longer than that. >Also digital e-commerce retailers are prevalent in all EU countries. And they are not trustworthy. Those online retailers always have everything in stock, but after you order and pay money it always turns out that they will have to order it from somewhere else. Often that other place has no stock either. It took me almost a month to get a new HDD last year because of shenanigans like this. >Amazon set up separate national operations in the EU due to social, regulatory and tax reasons. This is true if you live in one of the five odd countries that have an Amazon site. The 20 other EU countries don't get this luxury.
  - starfallg 7y ago
    What are you actually arguing about? Because in your original post you seem to be arguing that Amazon here in Europe is heads and shoulders above the competition while still being inferior to the US, implying that the e-commerce landscape here is dire. My comment disagrees with that. To me, it's the other way around, Amazon has to do more than what they do in the US to compete over here. So when I'm talking about getting relatively cheap next day delivery here, I'm talking about with any merchant, not just Amazon. That's why they have to offer more same-day delivery (than the US) to compete (and to justify the Prime subscription).
    - Mirioron 7y ago
      >What are you actually arguing about? Because in your original post you seem to be arguing that Amazon here in Europe is heads and shoulders above the competition while still being inferior to the US, implying that the e-commerce landscape here is dire. I'm arguing exactly about this. Yes, Amazon's doing great in the UK, but Europe does not stop at the border of the UK, France, and Germany. There are other countries there. I live in one. I explained that it's not rosy across Europe. >So when I'm talking about getting relatively cheap next day delivery here, I'm talking about with any merchant, not just Amazon. Great. Now what about the other few dozen European countries?
ineedasername 7y ago
>No, it wouldn't. Amazon in the US is amazing compared to what Amazon is in Europe. So your argument boils down to "Amazon is bad in europe, therefore no competition would arise even without Amazon" That doesn't quite follow. Are you saying that Amazon is the best that is possible in Europe? Even if that were the case, there's no reason an equally bad competitor couldn't fill the vacuum. Even if I'm wrong, my point against the GGGP post stands: There wouldn't be some huge public uprising against local governments to get Amazon back if they decided to pull out.
- Mirioron 7y ago
  >Are you saying that Amazon is the best that is possible in Europe? Even if that were the case, there's no reason an equally bad competitor couldn't fill the vacuum. No, I'm not saying that a competitor can't appear, I'm saying that it's unlikely, because it hasn't happened for such a long time. Of course there are other ecommerce stores but they aren't on Amazon's level. I also agree that people wouldn't care much about it if Amazon pulled out. It would just be another way where Europe accepts worse service though. France still uses cheques to pay for some utilities (or at least they did only a few years ago).

starfallg 7y ago

I'm not sure you are as familiar with the online marketplaces in Europe as you claim to be. Amazon set up separate national operations in the EU due to social, regulatory and tax reasons. Also digital e-commerce retailers are prevalent in all EU countries. Amazon is only one of many players. In fact, logistics over here is much better developed than the US. Most items can be next day delivered here in the UK for a low standard charge. Amazon has to offer same-day deliveries to the UK at a much higher level than the US in order to compete and maintain its competitive advantage.

Mirioron 7y ago
>Most items can be next day delivered here in the UK for a low standard charge. Cool. What about the rest of Europe/the EU? I am in an EU country and ordering anything from any of the Amazons has a minimum delivery time of 1 week. Usually it's longer than that. >Also digital e-commerce retailers are prevalent in all EU countries. And they are not trustworthy. Those online retailers always have everything in stock, but after you order and pay money it always turns out that they will have to order it from somewhere else. Often that other place has no stock either. It took me almost a month to get a new HDD last year because of shenanigans like this. >Amazon set up separate national operations in the EU due to social, regulatory and tax reasons. This is true if you live in one of the five odd countries that have an Amazon site. The 20 other EU countries don't get this luxury.
- starfallg 7y ago
  What are you actually arguing about? Because in your original post you seem to be arguing that Amazon here in Europe is heads and shoulders above the competition while still being inferior to the US, implying that the e-commerce landscape here is dire. My comment disagrees with that. To me, it's the other way around, Amazon has to do more than what they do in the US to compete over here. So when I'm talking about getting relatively cheap next day delivery here, I'm talking about with any merchant, not just Amazon. That's why they have to offer more same-day delivery (than the US) to compete (and to justify the Prime subscription).
  - Mirioron 7y ago
    >What are you actually arguing about? Because in your original post you seem to be arguing that Amazon here in Europe is heads and shoulders above the competition while still being inferior to the US, implying that the e-commerce landscape here is dire. I'm arguing exactly about this. Yes, Amazon's doing great in the UK, but Europe does not stop at the border of the UK, France, and Germany. There are other countries there. I live in one. I explained that it's not rosy across Europe. >So when I'm talking about getting relatively cheap next day delivery here, I'm talking about with any merchant, not just Amazon. Great. Now what about the other few dozen European countries?

ineedasername 7y ago

>No, it wouldn't. Amazon in the US is amazing compared to what Amazon is in Europe. So your argument boils down to "Amazon is bad in europe, therefore no competition would arise even without Amazon" That doesn't quite follow. Are you saying that Amazon is the best that is possible in Europe? Even if that were the case, there's no reason an equally bad competitor couldn't fill the vacuum. Even if I'm wrong, my point against the GGGP post stands: There wouldn't be some huge public uprising against local governments to get Amazon back if they decided to pull out.

Mirioron 7y ago
>Are you saying that Amazon is the best that is possible in Europe? Even if that were the case, there's no reason an equally bad competitor couldn't fill the vacuum. No, I'm not saying that a competitor can't appear, I'm saying that it's unlikely, because it hasn't happened for such a long time. Of course there are other ecommerce stores but they aren't on Amazon's level. I also agree that people wouldn't care much about it if Amazon pulled out. It would just be another way where Europe accepts worse service though. France still uses cheques to pay for some utilities (or at least they did only a few years ago).