4 ms·

If this trend continues, ultimately all 50 states will be collecting sales tax from Amazon. In that case, what is amazon's edge going forward, especially if th

by niggler 14y ago

If this trend continues, ultimately all 50 states will be collecting sales tax from Amazon. In that case, what is amazon's edge going forward, especially if the retails stores can come close on price while offering immediate gratification?

dman 14y ago
a) The warehouses are in lower cost areas as compared to showrooms. b) Warehouses allow amazon to serve the profitable long tail of products because they are not limited to shelf space. c) If they start offering same day service, the advantage of immediate purchase from retail stores will me largely mitigated. d) I largely dont want to shop in a store anymore because amazon has the discovery problem solved to a much better extent than stores do. I feel very helpless now when I am in a retail store and struggle to answer the question - 'which one of these products is any good'. Retailers could maybe counter that with shopping companion applications but I dont know of any good ones.
- joezydeco 14y ago
  It's not just same-day service that's compelling, it's same-day service with delivery. If I can order something from my desk at work in the AM and have it in-hand before I drive home, that blows away any brick-and-mortar store by a long shot.
  - toomuchtodo 14y ago
    Or its waiting on my front stoop when I get home. That saves me half an hour, and I'll cough up $10-20 for that privilege.
    - joezydeco 14y ago
      That's what the lockers are for! =)
      - toomuchtodo 14y ago
        No lockers in Chicago suburbs yet :(
    - deleted 14y ago
      [deleted]
    - deleted 14y ago
      [deleted]
    - deleted 14y ago
      [deleted]
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
travisp 14y ago
Assuming retail stores that have to pay for more expensive real estate and employees can compete on price, I think there's actually more to price for reasons to shop at Amazon. First, a retail store is not really immediate gratification -- I have got get to the retail store. Often times I would rather wait a day or two (and soon it may not even be that much with Amazon), than spend an hour of my time trying to get to and from the store. I also often want to read reviews of what I buy, and Amazon often has the most reviews for any particular product. Trying to lookup reviews, or comparison shop while in a retail store is difficult at best (sometimes not even possible if there is no reception). At least with Amazon if something seems like it may be highly priced, I can quickly search around for an alternative. With Amazon, I also know the return process will be easy if I need to make a return, and I won't have the go back to the store and argue with a manager. In other words, there's more to just price that gives Amazon an advantage.
- niggler 14y ago
  "With Amazon, I also know the return process will be easy if I need to make a return, and I won't have the go back to the store and argue with a manager." Costco is the same way, and they do it in-store ... "I have got get to the retail store" While true, oftentimes you are going there or in the general direction as part of a commute or for some other reason (like getting gas for your car) The more I think about it, the more compelling a long-COST-short-AMZN trade sounds ...
  - travisp 14y ago
    Perhaps this is the difference in where we live. I live in New York. Never is anything more than an expensive small gourmet grocery store or a pharmacy possibly "on the way." Things also tend to be much more expensive than average here. Costco is out of the way and would probably require the rental of a car, or paying for a taxi. Returning something to Costco would be a big hassle compared with just leaving a UPS package for my doorman. Further, I don't have the apartment space necessary for Costco quantities. I prefer to buy smaller quantities (even at higher per unit prices) if it means that I don't fill up my small apartment with paper towel rolls.
CapitalistCartr 14y ago
Immediate gratification is the ONLY advantage local chain stores have over Amazon for me. Every other aspect of shopping with them is inferior. With Amazon having to pay sales tax, they have no reason to NOT build local warehouses, and then the local box stores will have to learn to provide decent service or, more likely, go out of business.
- niggler 14y ago
  So in the scenario (read my post) amazon has to charge sales tax. Have you been to Costco? I daresay their customer service blows away amazon
  - borlak 14y ago
    I've been to Costco. It's a madhouse, and quite unnerving for an introvert like myself. But that's not even the main reason I like Amazon -- it's for the product ratings. How do I know what I'm getting at Costco is the best quality for the price? I can get a very good idea of that at Amazon. Not to mention Costco can't even being to compete with the product selection at Amazon.
    - niggler 14y ago
      "It's a madhouse, and quite unnerving for an introvert like myself." That is a fair point. On the flip side, I find phone or email or text-based customer service to be unnerving. I like talking to a real person face-to-face :) Part of why I like TD Bank (in the northeast, it's the only bank open on Sundays) "How do I know what I'm getting at Costco is the best quality for the price? I can get a very good idea of that at Amazon. Not to mention Costco can't even being to compete with the product selection at Amazon." There are two ways to look at product selection and product ratings. Amazon gives you everything and the kitchen sick, and leaves the problem of quality to you (via the ratings scheme, but in order to have a rating someone else must have purchased it and thought it wasn't good). Every purchase carries, above the standard risk of product defect, the risk that the product may be terrible. While Costco doesn't have the breadth of substitutes in any particular class of item, their selections are generally high quality. They separate the sheep from the goats for you, and while I've had some bad experiences with products from Amazon I haven't had a bad experience with costco stuff (even with their store brand "Kirkland"). So you have Amazon, which gives you depth of selection but requires you to do the due diligence and take the risk, and you have Costco, which gives you limited selection but doesn't offer the stuff that would get 1 or 2 stars on Amazon.
brown9-2 14y ago
what is amazon's edge going forward Not needing to travel to a store to buy items that I could wait 1-2 days for delivery on.

by niggler 14y ago

dman 14y ago

a) The warehouses are in lower cost areas as compared to showrooms. b) Warehouses allow amazon to serve the profitable long tail of products because they are not limited to shelf space. c) If they start offering same day service, the advantage of immediate purchase from retail stores will me largely mitigated. d) I largely dont want to shop in a store anymore because amazon has the discovery problem solved to a much better extent than stores do. I feel very helpless now when I am in a retail store and struggle to answer the question - 'which one of these products is any good'. Retailers could maybe counter that with shopping companion applications but I dont know of any good ones.

joezydeco 14y ago
It's not just same-day service that's compelling, it's same-day service with delivery. If I can order something from my desk at work in the AM and have it in-hand before I drive home, that blows away any brick-and-mortar store by a long shot.
- toomuchtodo 14y ago
  Or its waiting on my front stoop when I get home. That saves me half an hour, and I'll cough up $10-20 for that privilege.
  - joezydeco 14y ago
    That's what the lockers are for! =)
    - toomuchtodo 14y ago
      No lockers in Chicago suburbs yet :(
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]

travisp 14y ago

Assuming retail stores that have to pay for more expensive real estate and employees can compete on price, I think there's actually more to price for reasons to shop at Amazon. First, a retail store is not really immediate gratification -- I have got get to the retail store. Often times I would rather wait a day or two (and soon it may not even be that much with Amazon), than spend an hour of my time trying to get to and from the store. I also often want to read reviews of what I buy, and Amazon often has the most reviews for any particular product. Trying to lookup reviews, or comparison shop while in a retail store is difficult at best (sometimes not even possible if there is no reception). At least with Amazon if something seems like it may be highly priced, I can quickly search around for an alternative. With Amazon, I also know the return process will be easy if I need to make a return, and I won't have the go back to the store and argue with a manager. In other words, there's more to just price that gives Amazon an advantage.

niggler 14y ago
"With Amazon, I also know the return process will be easy if I need to make a return, and I won't have the go back to the store and argue with a manager." Costco is the same way, and they do it in-store ... "I have got get to the retail store" While true, oftentimes you are going there or in the general direction as part of a commute or for some other reason (like getting gas for your car) The more I think about it, the more compelling a long-COST-short-AMZN trade sounds ...
- travisp 14y ago
  Perhaps this is the difference in where we live. I live in New York. Never is anything more than an expensive small gourmet grocery store or a pharmacy possibly "on the way." Things also tend to be much more expensive than average here. Costco is out of the way and would probably require the rental of a car, or paying for a taxi. Returning something to Costco would be a big hassle compared with just leaving a UPS package for my doorman. Further, I don't have the apartment space necessary for Costco quantities. I prefer to buy smaller quantities (even at higher per unit prices) if it means that I don't fill up my small apartment with paper towel rolls.

CapitalistCartr 14y ago

Immediate gratification is the ONLY advantage local chain stores have over Amazon for me. Every other aspect of shopping with them is inferior. With Amazon having to pay sales tax, they have no reason to NOT build local warehouses, and then the local box stores will have to learn to provide decent service or, more likely, go out of business.

niggler 14y ago
So in the scenario (read my post) amazon has to charge sales tax. Have you been to Costco? I daresay their customer service blows away amazon
- borlak 14y ago
  I've been to Costco. It's a madhouse, and quite unnerving for an introvert like myself. But that's not even the main reason I like Amazon -- it's for the product ratings. How do I know what I'm getting at Costco is the best quality for the price? I can get a very good idea of that at Amazon. Not to mention Costco can't even being to compete with the product selection at Amazon.
  - niggler 14y ago
    "It's a madhouse, and quite unnerving for an introvert like myself." That is a fair point. On the flip side, I find phone or email or text-based customer service to be unnerving. I like talking to a real person face-to-face :) Part of why I like TD Bank (in the northeast, it's the only bank open on Sundays) "How do I know what I'm getting at Costco is the best quality for the price? I can get a very good idea of that at Amazon. Not to mention Costco can't even being to compete with the product selection at Amazon." There are two ways to look at product selection and product ratings. Amazon gives you everything and the kitchen sick, and leaves the problem of quality to you (via the ratings scheme, but in order to have a rating someone else must have purchased it and thought it wasn't good). Every purchase carries, above the standard risk of product defect, the risk that the product may be terrible. While Costco doesn't have the breadth of substitutes in any particular class of item, their selections are generally high quality. They separate the sheep from the goats for you, and while I've had some bad experiences with products from Amazon I haven't had a bad experience with costco stuff (even with their store brand "Kirkland"). So you have Amazon, which gives you depth of selection but requires you to do the due diligence and take the risk, and you have Costco, which gives you limited selection but doesn't offer the stuff that would get 1 or 2 stars on Amazon.

brown9-2 14y ago

what is amazon's edge going forward Not needing to travel to a store to buy items that I could wait 1-2 days for delivery on.