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I know it is a simple way to look at it, but Walmart on whole has been a game changer when it came to handling the lockdown. Where Amazon was taking weeks to ge
by pgrote 6y ago
I know it is a simple way to look at it, but Walmart on whole has been a game changer when it came to handling the lockdown. Where Amazon was taking weeks to get "non-critical" items shipped, Walmart had on average a 3 day wait for drive up pick up.
They've introduced a yearly fee for delivery and we signed up. It's been top notch. In my area, they outsource the delivery to doordash. Order, pick a time for delivery and it is delivered. Works well.
Back to the simple ... maybe they have found a way to compete where amazon cannot?
- techer 6y agoDifferent market and in the UK but there are no big supermarkets that currently deliver to non- vulnerable households. I ordered vegetables directly from the restaurant suppliers that had no more customers. In the Uk Amazon had this policy too but in reality most non essential/but useful items were sent to me in less than a week. Of course most of the very useful items were not in stock at all the first few weeks, and some still aren’t. Edit: good lessons in not depending on one supply route and as a result I will buy my fresh food from smaller companies from now on.
- dingaling 6y agoI'm in the UK and have had weekly Tesco deliveries consistently through this period. They do leave them at the gate now instead of carrying them in but other than that, and an 80 item per order limit, business as usual.
- amatix 6y agoTesco and ASDA have both been delivering to anyone throughout, and Sainsbury’s has opened out to anyone in the last week or so.
- techer 6y agoNot one of them would deliver to me. Amazon fresh neither.
- noir_lord 6y agoOcadao and Morrisons have delivered to us throughout the lockdown though in the case of Ocado they did at one point have a rule about delivering only to existing customers from before the lockdown but that has been relaxed as well. Given the sheer scale of the lockdown and following disruption the existing supermarkets have handled it really well except for the toilet paper situation which was beyond silly on the consumers part and there really wasn't much that the supermarkets could have done at that point.
- ryansmccoy 6y agoI was thinking about this as well, I think it has to do with Wal-Marts supply chain, distribution centers, and relationships with it's suppliers. I don't know the answer, but does Wal-Mart have more pull then Amazon? Also, regarding the article, Jet from my memory gave Wal-Mart the infrastructure for online sales, so it's not like they didn't get anything for it. If anything, they are likely playing accounting games and writing off the acquisition, thereby improving their return on investment metrics into the future. When you acquire a company, there is sometimes a penalty to ROI if you pay too much, shows up in the form of intangible assets. When you write off an asset, you are basically removing it from your balance sheet.
- tsco77 6y agoAll their stores are local warehouses, no?
- ryansmccoy 6y agoI don't know, here are screen shots (I think) of both Amazon and Wal-Mart Distribution Centers: https://www.evernote.com/l/AUmo-KavWKxI35PFfZRw5wIlQOEf7aFO_Dc/ https://www.evernote.com/l/AUmo-KavWKxI35PFfZRw5wIlQOEf7aFO_...
- tsco77 6y agoYeah, comparable infrastructure for deliveries, but my point isn't about distribution centers though. If stores are closed all their stock can just be delivered with UberDash(tm) delivery drivers because they are everywhere: https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/mu18i_4q9FQSqMWuBtGuXw--~B/aD0xMDgwO3c9MTA4MDtzbT0xO2FwcGlkPXl0YWNoeW9u/http://media.zenfs.com/en/homerun/feed_manager_auto_publish_494/aba5daf0d589cd9cff6ad603d6f9893f https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/mu18i_4q9FQSqMWuBtGuXw--~B...
- huffmsa 6y agoCorrect. Walmart has one more layer of last mile vs Amazon.
- snarf21 6y agoI don't understand why Walmart doesn't have a customer supplied delivery program. Using the app, you would sign in when you enter the store. It would inform you of any deliveries within X miles of your home. It tells you how much you would be paid in store credit to do those deliveries. So you start shopping with say $33.50 already in your pocket. Then you just drop off a couple of bags at a few houses on your way home. Seems more efficient and cheaper than outsourcing to DoorDash or others.
- johnday 6y agoBecause you cannot rely on non-employees to do the job correctly.
- Operyl 6y agoIt's already non-employees (there's little to no entry barrier for DoorDash, Postmates, etc). They just don't want to have to deal with delivery logistics, easier and cheaper to outsource it to the existing companies.
- jackson1442 6y ago> there's little to no entry barrier for DoorDash, Postmates, etc There's still the entry barrier of having a background check, verifying insurance, etc., so it'd likely be more effort than it's worth for neighborhood Joe to sign up for it unless he wanted this as a full-fledged side hustle. If people want to do a "community delivery"-style thing, they can just sign-up for DoorDash/Postmates/IC/etc.
- justwalt 6y agoThat does sound like a decent idea if it could be incentivized strongly enough. It also sounds like a fun problem to work on, on the coding side of things.
- vsdvvsderer 6y agohuhuhu, what happens when I tell Walmart I've completed the deliveries, but I haven't? what happens when I make the delivery, but someone gets injured in the process? DoorDash has insurance for this most likely.
- sct202 6y agoAmazon I think is sandbagging the estimates. We got a gift card during the holidays and decided to spend it, and we're non-prime and put in 2 orders. Both shipping estimates were 1 month out and then suddenly delivered 2 days after the order.
- cheez 6y agoSame, re Amazon.
- marcusverus 6y agoI've noticed the same pattern. Presumably they would rather lose business in the short term (by scaring away time-sensitive shoppers) than risk damage to the brand by delivering late.
- atomi 6y agoConsidering that at least 5 Amazon employees have died, I would have a hard time crying about a late package right now. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/14/sixth-confirmed-amazon-worker-dies.html https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/14/sixth-confirmed-amazon-worke...
- sib 6y agoAmazon has over 800,000 employees. 1/100,000 is not a high rate compared to general population. (Not trivializing deaths.)
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- moron4hire 6y agoI've had a lot of stuff take significantly longer than even the extended estimate
- iNate2000 6y agoThey probably _are_ being conservative in estimates, but I ordered a new Kindle on April 9 and it didn’t arrive until the 27th.