4 ms·

Amazon kind of gave up on discovery, at least for books, when they realized they could make more money running ads. I sell books on Amazon. Years ago, their boo

Amazon kind of gave up on discovery, at least for books, when they realized they could make more money running ads. I sell books on Amazon. Years ago, their book pages had two carousels of "similar titles" on each book detail page. Similar titles were selected by some pretty helpful algorithms based on what purchasers of the current title had also purchased, as well as some other secret sauce. At the time, ads weren't very prominent, and they were profitable for authors. I could buy them for 5 cents a click and even if only one in fifty clicks resulted in a purchase, I made money. Now, most of the algorithmic recommendations are gone, and for many ads, Amazon suggests bids of $2.50 or more per click. Those clicks bring in money whether Amazon makes a sale or not. To some extent, they've given up on matching customers to the best or most suitable products. Why should they work that hard if ads are more profitable? They've also had problems with piracy and counterfeits, as mentioned in this article. I heard a radio interview with a Target executive a couple years ago where a journalist said, "Amazon is underpricing you on everything. How do you plan to stay in business?" She said, "We vet every product on our shelves. We know who makes it and where, whether it's legit, and whether it contains lead paint and parts kids can choke on. Try to find that info on Amazon." The reporter didn't seem too impressed at the time, but the Target woman clearly saw where things were going. As the quality, authenticity, and reliability of Amazon's merchandise has declined, people are starting to notice. I'm not sure this is a problem they will ever have the will to fix. While they break even or lose money on genuine goods they have to ship for free, profits from third party sellers and Chinese drop shippers keep the retail operation afloat.

rmbyrro 4y ago
Interesting. The algorithmic recommendations still work well for me. I discover a lot of good books swiping the carousel.
nerdponx 4y ago
This is somewhat of an aside about Target, but I've noticed that their inventory has moved significantly upmarket in the last 10 years or so. Their long-term strategy appears to be distinguishing themselves from the "bottom-of-the-barrel low-cost stuff" market and settling in a "low-cost but still decent stuff" niche.
- citizenkeen 4y ago
  “Wal-Mart for the wealthy” is probably a very profitable demo to serve.
- zrobotics 4y ago
  Thing is, even Walmart vets their inventory. This problem has been going on long enough that I've been telling friends & family not to purchase anything that goes on or in your body from Amazon due to counterfeit issues. Whereas, with Walmart I am pretty well assured that if I buy a can of green giant corn it's actually produced by that company. Sure, it's definitely possible for counterfeits to sneak into their supply chain, but that is only possible via employees or suppliers defrauding Walmart. Walmart also loses on this, so they are incentivised to audit and prevent this, since they actually hold and own the inventory. Whereas Amazon has zero incentive (or ability) to audit their supply chain, since the inventory they hold is actually owned by someone else. [aside-yes, I know that frito lay, nestle, etc actually own their inventory in Walmart and just merchandise the space]. Target definitely has moved upmarket, but even their low cost competitor has far tighter controls than Amazon. I would even speculate that Walmart has less likelihood of counterfeits in the supply chain than target, having been tangentially involved with a vendor getting into each retailer. Walmart is incredibly mercenary with their suppliers, and due to their size they can get away with very onerous terms. I tend to dislike them for this, but I will admit I'm impressed with their supply chain management and they certainly don't leave opportunities for fraud available to their suppliers.
  - easrng 4y ago
    Note that Walmart.com does list 3rd party sellers.
    - zrobotics 4y ago
      Yep, and they also don't fulfill those orders fro Walmart stores. 3rd party seller orders are shipped outside of their logistics chain. Id argue that the marketplace is still a strategic misstep, but I understand why they did it. Managers want to show they are keeping up with Amazon, and the only way to offer the selection they do is to allow 3rd party sellers. However, for physical inventory in a Walmart, that is a different thing entirely. Plus, who shops at Walmart online? I have family who are enamored with their online ordering (physical store pickup) and they all have complained about the 3rd party sellers. To a person, they have all said 'if I want to have stuff shipped to me, why wouldn't I use Amazon?' Amazon is currently banking on their generous return policy and favorable customer service. Most of what they sell is available on AliExpress, but good luck returning something ordered direct from Ali. I don't want to speculate on Amazon's downfall, since they have a dominant enough position to coast for decades, but it seems to me they are making fundamental business mistakes. Most of my peers treat them as a place to order cheap crap, I get the feeling that consumer sentiment is that stuff ordered fron Amazon is even lower quality than Walmart. But direct to door is convenient, and they have enough inertia to last a long time before failing.
iends 4y ago
Amazon used to have a great recommendation page that had a tab for new releases and coming soon. This was incredible for book discovery and they got so much money from me with these pages. Amazon is currently recommending me shower heads and bathroom hardware from when I remodeled a month ago because I bought that stuff then. Pointless.
- FireBeyond 4y ago
  Yup. Buy a printer and you'll see recommendations after you purchase one for every other printer in existence, rather than say, ink, toner for the one you did.
- bwb 4y ago
  I am actually working on this very problem and trying to make book discovery magical and more of an experience, we just turned 14 months old and slowly working toward more unique approaches -> https://shepherd.com/ https://shepherd.com/ For now, you can look for books based on Wikipedia topic (I analyze them using NLP/ML to find connections), or via another favorite book or author. At the heart of everything is 5,000+ authors who recommend their favorite books around a topic, theme, or mood.
crooked-v 4y ago
On a similar note, all my general-purpose electrical stuff (power strips, cables, etc) comes from brick and mortar stores now, because I just can't trust that the same items from Amazon, or even from Wal-mart's awful online 'marketplace', won't burn my house down.
- jfim 4y ago
  If you want to avoid the Walmart marketplace, you can filter by retailer and select Walmart, this gets rid of third party sellers.
MomoXenosaga 4y ago
A store is the worst place for discovery. They want you to buy what makes them the most money. This isn't just an Amazon problem it goes for every retailer. You cannot get good independent advice from someone who wants to make money off you.

rmbyrro 4y ago

Interesting. The algorithmic recommendations still work well for me. I discover a lot of good books swiping the carousel.

nerdponx 4y ago

This is somewhat of an aside about Target, but I've noticed that their inventory has moved significantly upmarket in the last 10 years or so. Their long-term strategy appears to be distinguishing themselves from the "bottom-of-the-barrel low-cost stuff" market and settling in a "low-cost but still decent stuff" niche.

citizenkeen 4y ago
“Wal-Mart for the wealthy” is probably a very profitable demo to serve.
zrobotics 4y ago
Thing is, even Walmart vets their inventory. This problem has been going on long enough that I've been telling friends & family not to purchase anything that goes on or in your body from Amazon due to counterfeit issues. Whereas, with Walmart I am pretty well assured that if I buy a can of green giant corn it's actually produced by that company. Sure, it's definitely possible for counterfeits to sneak into their supply chain, but that is only possible via employees or suppliers defrauding Walmart. Walmart also loses on this, so they are incentivised to audit and prevent this, since they actually hold and own the inventory. Whereas Amazon has zero incentive (or ability) to audit their supply chain, since the inventory they hold is actually owned by someone else. [aside-yes, I know that frito lay, nestle, etc actually own their inventory in Walmart and just merchandise the space]. Target definitely has moved upmarket, but even their low cost competitor has far tighter controls than Amazon. I would even speculate that Walmart has less likelihood of counterfeits in the supply chain than target, having been tangentially involved with a vendor getting into each retailer. Walmart is incredibly mercenary with their suppliers, and due to their size they can get away with very onerous terms. I tend to dislike them for this, but I will admit I'm impressed with their supply chain management and they certainly don't leave opportunities for fraud available to their suppliers.
- easrng 4y ago
  Note that Walmart.com does list 3rd party sellers.
  - zrobotics 4y ago
    Yep, and they also don't fulfill those orders fro Walmart stores. 3rd party seller orders are shipped outside of their logistics chain. Id argue that the marketplace is still a strategic misstep, but I understand why they did it. Managers want to show they are keeping up with Amazon, and the only way to offer the selection they do is to allow 3rd party sellers. However, for physical inventory in a Walmart, that is a different thing entirely. Plus, who shops at Walmart online? I have family who are enamored with their online ordering (physical store pickup) and they all have complained about the 3rd party sellers. To a person, they have all said 'if I want to have stuff shipped to me, why wouldn't I use Amazon?' Amazon is currently banking on their generous return policy and favorable customer service. Most of what they sell is available on AliExpress, but good luck returning something ordered direct from Ali. I don't want to speculate on Amazon's downfall, since they have a dominant enough position to coast for decades, but it seems to me they are making fundamental business mistakes. Most of my peers treat them as a place to order cheap crap, I get the feeling that consumer sentiment is that stuff ordered fron Amazon is even lower quality than Walmart. But direct to door is convenient, and they have enough inertia to last a long time before failing.

iends 4y ago

Amazon used to have a great recommendation page that had a tab for new releases and coming soon. This was incredible for book discovery and they got so much money from me with these pages. Amazon is currently recommending me shower heads and bathroom hardware from when I remodeled a month ago because I bought that stuff then. Pointless.

FireBeyond 4y ago
Yup. Buy a printer and you'll see recommendations after you purchase one for every other printer in existence, rather than say, ink, toner for the one you did.
bwb 4y ago
I am actually working on this very problem and trying to make book discovery magical and more of an experience, we just turned 14 months old and slowly working toward more unique approaches -> https://shepherd.com/ https://shepherd.com/ For now, you can look for books based on Wikipedia topic (I analyze them using NLP/ML to find connections), or via another favorite book or author. At the heart of everything is 5,000+ authors who recommend their favorite books around a topic, theme, or mood.

crooked-v 4y ago

On a similar note, all my general-purpose electrical stuff (power strips, cables, etc) comes from brick and mortar stores now, because I just can't trust that the same items from Amazon, or even from Wal-mart's awful online 'marketplace', won't burn my house down.

jfim 4y ago
If you want to avoid the Walmart marketplace, you can filter by retailer and select Walmart, this gets rid of third party sellers.

MomoXenosaga 4y ago

A store is the worst place for discovery. They want you to buy what makes them the most money. This isn't just an Amazon problem it goes for every retailer. You cannot get good independent advice from someone who wants to make money off you.