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The difference is that when you go to Kroger you search the shelves with your own eyeballs. When you go to Amazon, their opaque algorithm does the searching fo

The difference is that when you go to Kroger you search the shelves with your own eyeballs. When you go to Amazon, their opaque algorithm does the searching for you, and it could be (and probably is) prioritizing Amazon brands or "Amazon's choice" over other brands. I suppose an argument could be made about the layout of store shelves serving a similar purpose to the prioritization inherent in search engine algorithms, but I don't think it's a perfect parallel since the shopper arguably has more agency in determining what products they see and when in a meatspace store versus online.

jasode 6y ago
>The difference is that when you go to Kroger you search the shelves with your own eyeballs. [...] I suppose an argument could be made about the layout of store shelves serving a similar purpose to the prioritization [...] the shopper arguably has more agency in determining what products they see and when in a meatspace store For example of Kroger or any other retail store, the shopper doesn't have full visibility of buying options because the curation also happens before any product gets stocked on the shelf. E.g. the hidden retail-corporate-buyer-and-vendor relationships. Kroger example[1]. Costco example[2]. Because shoppers are not sitting in grocery chain's corporate headquarters to see what products the company rejects/prioritizes, they will still be influenced by self-interest of the retailer. Those are private negotiations of vendor contracts that influences what shows up on shelves so they can be as opaque as Amazon's recommendations algorithms. If Kroger wants to remove Kraft Macaroni & Cheese from the shelves and just promote their own-store-brand Kroger Macaroni & Cheese[3], the shopper doesn't really have any more agency. [1] https://www.thekrogerco.com/vendors-suppliers/become-a-supplier/ https://www.thekrogerco.com/vendors-suppliers/become-a-suppl... [2] https://www.costco.com/vendor-inquiries.html https://www.costco.com/vendor-inquiries.html [3] https://www.kroger.com/p/kroger-original-macaroni-cheese/0001111085151 https://www.kroger.com/p/kroger-original-macaroni-cheese/000...
- TurkTurkleton 6y ago
  Those are excellent points that I had not considered (or even been aware of). Still, though, while the set of brands and products available at a brick-and-mortar store is predetermined in a way that the customer has little to no influence over, it's at least much more visible if I go into Kroger one week and there's a full selection of different brands of mac & cheese, and then come back the next week and it's all Kroger brand with no sign of any other brand; whereas if I go to Amazon and search for, say, AA batteries, or Lightning cables, and all I see is AmazonBasics batteries and AmazonBasics Lightning cables, is that because Amazon stopped stocking Energizer batteries and Anker cables entirely, or because Amazon forced them to a later page of results to bolster sales of the AmazonBasics brand?

jasode 6y ago

>The difference is that when you go to Kroger you search the shelves with your own eyeballs. [...] I suppose an argument could be made about the layout of store shelves serving a similar purpose to the prioritization [...] the shopper arguably has more agency in determining what products they see and when in a meatspace store For example of Kroger or any other retail store, the shopper doesn't have full visibility of buying options because the curation also happens before any product gets stocked on the shelf. E.g. the hidden retail-corporate-buyer-and-vendor relationships. Kroger example[1]. Costco example[2]. Because shoppers are not sitting in grocery chain's corporate headquarters to see what products the company rejects/prioritizes, they will still be influenced by self-interest of the retailer. Those are private negotiations of vendor contracts that influences what shows up on shelves so they can be as opaque as Amazon's recommendations algorithms. If Kroger wants to remove Kraft Macaroni & Cheese from the shelves and just promote their own-store-brand Kroger Macaroni & Cheese[3], the shopper doesn't really have any more agency. [1] https://www.thekrogerco.com/vendors-suppliers/become-a-supplier/ https://www.thekrogerco.com/vendors-suppliers/become-a-suppl... [2] https://www.costco.com/vendor-inquiries.html https://www.costco.com/vendor-inquiries.html [3] https://www.kroger.com/p/kroger-original-macaroni-cheese/0001111085151 https://www.kroger.com/p/kroger-original-macaroni-cheese/000...

TurkTurkleton 6y ago
Those are excellent points that I had not considered (or even been aware of). Still, though, while the set of brands and products available at a brick-and-mortar store is predetermined in a way that the customer has little to no influence over, it's at least much more visible if I go into Kroger one week and there's a full selection of different brands of mac & cheese, and then come back the next week and it's all Kroger brand with no sign of any other brand; whereas if I go to Amazon and search for, say, AA batteries, or Lightning cables, and all I see is AmazonBasics batteries and AmazonBasics Lightning cables, is that because Amazon stopped stocking Energizer batteries and Anker cables entirely, or because Amazon forced them to a later page of results to bolster sales of the AmazonBasics brand?