4 ms·

Do American grocery stores have better controls or does their broker model just happen to filter the junk?

notyourwork 3y ago
I wonder the same thing. It seems like something that at Amazon scale we pick on but at physical store scale we discard as not possible.
- gehwartzen 3y ago
  I haven't hear about these problems at Walmart and would think the scale of stuff sold is comparable. I think the main problem, as others have mentioned, is that Amazon commingles products from various suppliers (so everything that comes in from a manufacturer or a true vetted wholesaler + 1000's of "flip stuff from china" garage operations get mixed up at Amazon warehouses before being sold).
  - arrowleaf 3y ago
    Right. Walmart doesn't let someone drive up with a semi-load of what looks like bags of King Arthur bread flour, mark the pallets with a tag, and cut them a check when they stock the items from that pallet onto the shelf. That's basically what Amazon does.
  - toast0 3y ago
    Walmart is known for having a very tight control over their suppy chains. IMHO, mostly for cost control, but quality control and authenticity are useful side effects.
wccrawford 3y ago
IMO, there's a couple things going on there. First, grocery stores work on a 3% margin, so if they have a ton of returns on something, it costs them a ton of money from credit card fees and wages, and possibly from losing the cost of some portion of the product. Second, grocery stores have limited space and are picky about what they'll put in their store. They want quality goods that will sell well, and they don't want to cannibalize other products that would make them more money. So random supplements don't find their way to their shelves.
arrowleaf 3y ago
Grocery stores typically have an extensive if not integrated supply chain they have absolute control over.
hx8 3y ago
Some of both. I think it's mostly the model. * All of a single product is from the same vendor. Very often, that vendor is also the manufacturer. (model) * Grocery stores have limited shelf space, and thus spend time getting to know their products. (model influencing qa)
macNchz 3y ago
Grocery stores have buyers who decide which suppliers to work with and select the products they think their customers will want to buy, they don’t let random fly by night businesses just come to the store and put whatever products they want on the shelves, which would be the equivalent of Amazon’s third party sellers where these supplements came from.

I wonder the same thing. It seems like something that at Amazon scale we pick on but at physical store scale we discard as not possible.

gehwartzen 3y ago
I haven't hear about these problems at Walmart and would think the scale of stuff sold is comparable. I think the main problem, as others have mentioned, is that Amazon commingles products from various suppliers (so everything that comes in from a manufacturer or a true vetted wholesaler + 1000's of "flip stuff from china" garage operations get mixed up at Amazon warehouses before being sold).
- arrowleaf 3y ago
  Right. Walmart doesn't let someone drive up with a semi-load of what looks like bags of King Arthur bread flour, mark the pallets with a tag, and cut them a check when they stock the items from that pallet onto the shelf. That's basically what Amazon does.
- toast0 3y ago
  Walmart is known for having a very tight control over their suppy chains. IMHO, mostly for cost control, but quality control and authenticity are useful side effects.

wccrawford 3y ago

IMO, there's a couple things going on there. First, grocery stores work on a 3% margin, so if they have a ton of returns on something, it costs them a ton of money from credit card fees and wages, and possibly from losing the cost of some portion of the product. Second, grocery stores have limited space and are picky about what they'll put in their store. They want quality goods that will sell well, and they don't want to cannibalize other products that would make them more money. So random supplements don't find their way to their shelves.

arrowleaf 3y ago

Grocery stores typically have an extensive if not integrated supply chain they have absolute control over.

hx8 3y ago

Some of both. I think it's mostly the model. * All of a single product is from the same vendor. Very often, that vendor is also the manufacturer. (model) * Grocery stores have limited shelf space, and thus spend time getting to know their products. (model influencing qa)

macNchz 3y ago

Grocery stores have buyers who decide which suppliers to work with and select the products they think their customers will want to buy, they don’t let random fly by night businesses just come to the store and put whatever products they want on the shelves, which would be the equivalent of Amazon’s third party sellers where these supplements came from.