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What shipping? Amazon ships for free on any decent-sized ($25+) order. I'm skeptical that Walmart can really beat Amazon via logistics. They're both top-notch

What shipping? Amazon ships for free on any decent-sized ($25+) order. I'm skeptical that Walmart can really beat Amazon via logistics. They're both top-notch operators in that realm, but Amazon's product pipeline is a huge advantage - they don't have to manage nearly as many locations, nor do they have to hold as much inventory relative to sales volumes because they have fewer fulfillment centers. And their Subscribe and Save program (which offers a 15% discount on common household products) is aimed directly at Walmart and the price clubs. (http://www.amazon.com/gp/subscribe-and-save/details/index.html http://www.amazon.com/gp/subscribe-and-save/details/index.ht...)

JeffL 15y ago
You have to pay for shipping one way or another -- whether it's explicitly, or in the form of higher prices. It's not really free.
- tomkarlo 15y ago
  By that measure, you pay for shipping at Walmart, too. The goods don't magically arrive at the store.
  - freehunter 15y ago
    But Wal Mart's shipping can be much cheaper due to their predetermined, set routes. A truck is going to that store every night regardless of what is on it. They often offer free shipping to the store because the marginal cost to them for putting one more box on a truck is negligible.
    - tomkarlo 15y ago
      Amazon's shipping has fewer nodes in its graph. And the truck they use goes to your house every day: it just has UPS on the side. Transport is just one part of shipping costs. Handling, inventory time and other operations overhead are also a factor.
    - GregBuchholz 15y ago
      Unless you've arranged to live within walking distance to a Walmart, you've got to get there one way or another; by buying gas and driving, or by taking the bus subsidized by the local municipality.
    - jamesaguilar 15y ago
      Seems to me like UPS (or whoever delivers for Amazon) also has predetermined set routes. Also, just because marginal cost is zero doesn't mean cost to shipping customer is zero.
  - cpeterso 15y ago
    Amazon has to ship its merchandise twice: first to their distribution centers, then to the customer.
    - deleted 15y ago
      [deleted]
    - tomkarlo 15y ago
      Everyone has to use distribution centers and ship things multiple times - items come from Asia in shipping containers, which you have to break up and load into trucks, since individual stores don't stock inventory in amounts that large. Walmart has an extensive network of warehouses around the country that receive goods before they're shipped to the retail locations. Additionally, given the lag on orders of new inventory from overseas (which can be months), Walmart and other retailers have to maintain a pool of merchandise here in the US that they can ship to individual store locations based on local demand to replenish inventory.
loire280 15y ago
The dollar value of shipping isn't the only cost - 2+ days is a long time to wait and Wal-Mart is only a couple of miles away. Some things can wait and you can plan ahead to account for shipping times, but not everything can be planned for and sometimes you just want or need something tonight. Weekends are especially bad - once Thursday afternoon passes, you're probably not going to get what you order until Tuesday or Wednesday.
- tomkarlo 15y ago
  Fair enough, if you live close to a Walmart (and I know many do.) Personally, I find the 2 day wait is generally a reasonable trade for being able to order from my iPhone wherever I am, saving me an hour of driving to Walmart, going in and driving back. Moving errands from time blockers to parallel processes is a win in my view.
  - derwiki 15y ago
    This is exactly what I love about Prime. Need something? Take 3 minutes to go online and order it. Then forget about it. It will come in a few days and requires no mental overhead (i.e. "remember to buy X at the market next time") in the mean time.
    - deleted 15y ago
      [deleted]
quanticle 15y ago
Of course, the "free shipping" takes a lot longer (sometimes a week longer) than even their standard shipping. If you want free shipping that takes place reliably quickly, you have to sign up for Amazon Prime, at which point free shipping is no longer free.
- dman 15y ago
  If you amortize it over a year, compare it to the cost of driving to a store and include the cost of free streaming videos then Prime is virtually free.
- tomkarlo 15y ago
  Prime's about what, $7 a month? Each mile I drive costs $0.20 in gas. If having Prime saves me just half an hour / 35 mi of driving a month (less than two trips to Walmart), it's cheaper than going to the store.
scott_s 15y ago
Walmart makes special deals with those they buy from. It's more like Walmart tells them what the price is. I don't think Amazon has that kind of leverage.
- neworbit 15y ago
  ...yet ;-) To a certain extent Amazon does; they wield a lot of clout in book pricing and an enormous amount in ebook pricing. Outside that traditional core competency (and Amazon Android Appstore) not so much

JeffL 15y ago

You have to pay for shipping one way or another -- whether it's explicitly, or in the form of higher prices. It's not really free.

tomkarlo 15y ago
By that measure, you pay for shipping at Walmart, too. The goods don't magically arrive at the store.
- freehunter 15y ago
  But Wal Mart's shipping can be much cheaper due to their predetermined, set routes. A truck is going to that store every night regardless of what is on it. They often offer free shipping to the store because the marginal cost to them for putting one more box on a truck is negligible.
  - tomkarlo 15y ago
    Amazon's shipping has fewer nodes in its graph. And the truck they use goes to your house every day: it just has UPS on the side. Transport is just one part of shipping costs. Handling, inventory time and other operations overhead are also a factor.
  - GregBuchholz 15y ago
    Unless you've arranged to live within walking distance to a Walmart, you've got to get there one way or another; by buying gas and driving, or by taking the bus subsidized by the local municipality.
  - jamesaguilar 15y ago
    Seems to me like UPS (or whoever delivers for Amazon) also has predetermined set routes. Also, just because marginal cost is zero doesn't mean cost to shipping customer is zero.
- cpeterso 15y ago
  Amazon has to ship its merchandise twice: first to their distribution centers, then to the customer.
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
  - tomkarlo 15y ago
    Everyone has to use distribution centers and ship things multiple times - items come from Asia in shipping containers, which you have to break up and load into trucks, since individual stores don't stock inventory in amounts that large. Walmart has an extensive network of warehouses around the country that receive goods before they're shipped to the retail locations. Additionally, given the lag on orders of new inventory from overseas (which can be months), Walmart and other retailers have to maintain a pool of merchandise here in the US that they can ship to individual store locations based on local demand to replenish inventory.

loire280 15y ago

The dollar value of shipping isn't the only cost - 2+ days is a long time to wait and Wal-Mart is only a couple of miles away. Some things can wait and you can plan ahead to account for shipping times, but not everything can be planned for and sometimes you just want or need something tonight. Weekends are especially bad - once Thursday afternoon passes, you're probably not going to get what you order until Tuesday or Wednesday.

tomkarlo 15y ago
Fair enough, if you live close to a Walmart (and I know many do.) Personally, I find the 2 day wait is generally a reasonable trade for being able to order from my iPhone wherever I am, saving me an hour of driving to Walmart, going in and driving back. Moving errands from time blockers to parallel processes is a win in my view.
- derwiki 15y ago
  This is exactly what I love about Prime. Need something? Take 3 minutes to go online and order it. Then forget about it. It will come in a few days and requires no mental overhead (i.e. "remember to buy X at the market next time") in the mean time.
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]

quanticle 15y ago

Of course, the "free shipping" takes a lot longer (sometimes a week longer) than even their standard shipping. If you want free shipping that takes place reliably quickly, you have to sign up for Amazon Prime, at which point free shipping is no longer free.

dman 15y ago
If you amortize it over a year, compare it to the cost of driving to a store and include the cost of free streaming videos then Prime is virtually free.
tomkarlo 15y ago
Prime's about what, $7 a month? Each mile I drive costs $0.20 in gas. If having Prime saves me just half an hour / 35 mi of driving a month (less than two trips to Walmart), it's cheaper than going to the store.

scott_s 15y ago

Walmart makes special deals with those they buy from. It's more like Walmart tells them what the price is. I don't think Amazon has that kind of leverage.

neworbit 15y ago
...yet ;-) To a certain extent Amazon does; they wield a lot of clout in book pricing and an enormous amount in ebook pricing. Outside that traditional core competency (and Amazon Android Appstore) not so much