The author Douglas Rushkoff ("Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus," etc.) has a lot of good things to say about the long term dangers of relying on huge retailers

The author Douglas Rushkoff ("Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus," etc.) has a lot of good things to say about the long term dangers of relying on huge retailers like Amazon (and now apparently Google). I am making an effort to find much smaller online retailers. About 4 months ago I started using VitaCost for some food items, an to be honest their service initially was not great (possibly they were overwhelmed at the beginning of covid-19 lock-down). However, they just kept getting better and better and now I use my shopping history to reorder very quickly. Reading their privacy policy, they do share your purchase history with marketing partners and I can only hope this is on a smaller scale than having Google having my purchase history. A counter example: my wife and I needed a new coffee pot and I knew the brand I wanted. I went to that company's web site, tried to order, but was referred to Amazon and Walmart Online. Oh well.