5 ms·

Bricks Might Save Clicks

29 points by prostoalex 5y ago

kingcharles 5y ago
https://archive.ph/20220422112132/https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-bricks-might-save-clicks-11650619815 https://archive.ph/20220422112132/https://www.wsj.com/articl...
dzink 5y ago
It's interesting that this happened soon after Amazon closed its physical stores. If online retailers struggle to get distribution with non-targeted ads, then physical retail is an expensive answer. Maybe the right format (Obvious mall kiosks for digital shopping, etc) might help.
- mjevans 5y ago
  All of the Amazon 4 stars that I'm aware of were in expensive locations like larger malls. Amazon also owns Whole Foods, which is already a B&M operation. The natural thing for them to do is to have an extremely thin warehouse and return presence in these stores and put some of the smaller and frequently purchased impulse buys out on part of an isle.
  - mumblemumble 5y ago
    I'm not so sure about that. I'd have to travel past approximately 15 CVS and Walgreens locations that are already full of the same kinds of goods in order to pick them up at Whole Foods, and I'm rarely thinking about Bluetooth headphones when I'm shopping for tins of beans. And whatever they'd be removing from the shelves in order to make room is probably generating more revenue and/or doing a better service to the Whole Foods brand than Amazon Basics cell phone cases would.
    - mjevans 5y ago
      You might have missed the point I was making. If the 4 star locations were worth keeping open Amazon likely would have. My suggestion is to mingle a logistical operations nexus they already have and an extremely small cache of things they might be moving through it anyway. Adding anything extra revisits dis-economies of scale, just like the old B&M chains might not even have locations in smaller suburb cities. Plus there's already lean-end competition from highly experienced cost cutters that I'm sure come to mind as the places you'd already go to buy an item you need an hour ago.
      - mumblemumble 5y ago
        Whole Foods locations are not a general purpose logistical operations nexus, though. They're already jammed full of food and bougie household goods, and highly optimized as a retail outlet for food and bougie household goods. Even moving cheap Amazon consumer products into that space might risk destabilizing a very well-tuned cash cow that already enjoys the some of the highest profit per square foot that can be seen outside of a Trader Joe's. I doubt that nobody thought of this when Amazon first acquired Whole Foods. That they haven't done it so far implies that someone with much better access than we have to real information on the subject has already done the math, and decided not to.
gpapilion 5y ago
Retail is brutal low margin business. I don't think you can grow to the fullest extent without both physical and on-line presences. It' difficult to see couches to consumers, if they want to try them first. In 2021 you had to buy on-line, and that isn't true now.
- closeparen 5y ago
  The 6+ month lead times on couches makes them difficult to sell full stop. I want a new couch but I don't care enough about 6-month-future-me to actually order one. Extremely delayed gratification is an interesting "accidental" strategy for cutting down on consumerism!
  - coffeefirst 5y ago
    I also have a hard time believing any object backordered by 6 months is ever going to show up.
throw__away7391 5y ago
This "stores as ads" trend has really destroyed a lot of previously nice neighborhoods in Manhattan, as all the commercial real estate is gobbled up in areas in SoHo and Greenwich Village by stores that actually lose money based on retail sales at that location but use the store to create brand awareness and feature the store prominently in online ad campaigns. These drive up commercial real estate prices quite a lot forcing businesses that actually sell things to people out, so so for all the days you're not buying a suitcase with a built-in cell phone charger or a $7,000 neon orange jacket you'll have a harder time finding a bar, bodega, or any kind of shop you'd use on a regular basis. This make ironically some of the most prestigious addresses on some of the prettiest streets less nice. Particularly in SoHo there's a bunch of super fancy very beautiful lofts that sell for many $10s of millions, but if you need to "run downstairs for some eggs" or grab a coffee or something, you'll be walking many blocks through what's basically a luxury mall to get there. Also makes the streets feel deader at 7:00 when the shops all close down.
- analog31 5y ago
  It seems like the neighborhood retailers are getting it from both sides: Competing for space with luxury brands, and competing for sales with delivery services.
- Swenrekcah 5y ago
  This is a very real problem and the only viable solution I know of is for the local government to mandate a certain ratio (with error margins) of different types of establishments. For example, not more than 15% of a street can be hotels, or clothing stores, perhaps at least 25% be bars/restaurants/entertainment, etc.
  - gowld 5y ago
    France does this.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- finnh 5y ago
steve76 5y ago
awinter-py 5y ago
'rising cost of doing business online' is a disingenuous way to say that platforms have increased the # of ads they're serving in order to pretend they're still viable businesses, and therefore user acquisition is bananas in every category retail bounceback / showroom-ification may be a short term trend for a few lucky online brands with scale, but ultimately mass customization has to eat apparel. The physical location of auto-tailors will depend on turnaround times, scanning tech, and consumer prefs

29 points by prostoalex 5y ago

https://archive.ph/20220422112132/https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-bricks-might-save-clicks-11650619815 https://archive.ph/20220422112132/https://www.wsj.com/articl...

dzink 5y ago

It's interesting that this happened soon after Amazon closed its physical stores. If online retailers struggle to get distribution with non-targeted ads, then physical retail is an expensive answer. Maybe the right format (Obvious mall kiosks for digital shopping, etc) might help.

mjevans 5y ago
All of the Amazon 4 stars that I'm aware of were in expensive locations like larger malls. Amazon also owns Whole Foods, which is already a B&M operation. The natural thing for them to do is to have an extremely thin warehouse and return presence in these stores and put some of the smaller and frequently purchased impulse buys out on part of an isle.
- mumblemumble 5y ago
  I'm not so sure about that. I'd have to travel past approximately 15 CVS and Walgreens locations that are already full of the same kinds of goods in order to pick them up at Whole Foods, and I'm rarely thinking about Bluetooth headphones when I'm shopping for tins of beans. And whatever they'd be removing from the shelves in order to make room is probably generating more revenue and/or doing a better service to the Whole Foods brand than Amazon Basics cell phone cases would.
  - mjevans 5y ago
    You might have missed the point I was making. If the 4 star locations were worth keeping open Amazon likely would have. My suggestion is to mingle a logistical operations nexus they already have and an extremely small cache of things they might be moving through it anyway. Adding anything extra revisits dis-economies of scale, just like the old B&M chains might not even have locations in smaller suburb cities. Plus there's already lean-end competition from highly experienced cost cutters that I'm sure come to mind as the places you'd already go to buy an item you need an hour ago.
    - mumblemumble 5y ago
      Whole Foods locations are not a general purpose logistical operations nexus, though. They're already jammed full of food and bougie household goods, and highly optimized as a retail outlet for food and bougie household goods. Even moving cheap Amazon consumer products into that space might risk destabilizing a very well-tuned cash cow that already enjoys the some of the highest profit per square foot that can be seen outside of a Trader Joe's. I doubt that nobody thought of this when Amazon first acquired Whole Foods. That they haven't done it so far implies that someone with much better access than we have to real information on the subject has already done the math, and decided not to.

gpapilion 5y ago

Retail is brutal low margin business. I don't think you can grow to the fullest extent without both physical and on-line presences. It' difficult to see couches to consumers, if they want to try them first. In 2021 you had to buy on-line, and that isn't true now.

closeparen 5y ago
The 6+ month lead times on couches makes them difficult to sell full stop. I want a new couch but I don't care enough about 6-month-future-me to actually order one. Extremely delayed gratification is an interesting "accidental" strategy for cutting down on consumerism!
- coffeefirst 5y ago
  I also have a hard time believing any object backordered by 6 months is ever going to show up.

throw__away7391 5y ago

This "stores as ads" trend has really destroyed a lot of previously nice neighborhoods in Manhattan, as all the commercial real estate is gobbled up in areas in SoHo and Greenwich Village by stores that actually lose money based on retail sales at that location but use the store to create brand awareness and feature the store prominently in online ad campaigns. These drive up commercial real estate prices quite a lot forcing businesses that actually sell things to people out, so so for all the days you're not buying a suitcase with a built-in cell phone charger or a $7,000 neon orange jacket you'll have a harder time finding a bar, bodega, or any kind of shop you'd use on a regular basis. This make ironically some of the most prestigious addresses on some of the prettiest streets less nice. Particularly in SoHo there's a bunch of super fancy very beautiful lofts that sell for many $10s of millions, but if you need to "run downstairs for some eggs" or grab a coffee or something, you'll be walking many blocks through what's basically a luxury mall to get there. Also makes the streets feel deader at 7:00 when the shops all close down.

analog31 5y ago
It seems like the neighborhood retailers are getting it from both sides: Competing for space with luxury brands, and competing for sales with delivery services.
Swenrekcah 5y ago
This is a very real problem and the only viable solution I know of is for the local government to mandate a certain ratio (with error margins) of different types of establishments. For example, not more than 15% of a street can be hotels, or clothing stores, perhaps at least 25% be bars/restaurants/entertainment, etc.
- gowld 5y ago
  France does this.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
finnh 5y ago

steve76 5y ago

awinter-py 5y ago

'rising cost of doing business online' is a disingenuous way to say that platforms have increased the # of ads they're serving in order to pretend they're still viable businesses, and therefore user acquisition is bananas in every category retail bounceback / showroom-ification may be a short term trend for a few lucky online brands with scale, but ultimately mass customization has to eat apparel. The physical location of auto-tailors will depend on turnaround times, scanning tech, and consumer prefs