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A Start-up Takes on Wal-Mart
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- stevejohnson 17y agoHere's a working link: http://www.inc.com/articles/2009/06/alice.html http://www.inc.com/articles/2009/06/alice.html
- zck 17y agoWow, alice.com is somewhat annoying. They front-load the annoying, frustrating part of the process -- filling out who your family consists of, telling them what you buy, and actually registering for the site. This is all before you can see a price. They'd have more people if they let you see the prices with no hassle.
- mdolon 17y agoI especially enjoyed the price comparison chart, with all of the other competitor names blurred out and no hint as to what the product is. The site looks great and the idea sounds like a winner, I'm just not so sure about the execution just yet.
- lief79 17y agoThe writeup makes it sound like a bold idea. I'm curious to see where it goes. Yeah, as zck pointed out, the heavy sign up front will reduce turn over.
- frossie 17y agoFrom their FAQ: "If you live in Alaska, Hawaii, or another country, we hope to be able to serve you in the future." If that is true, they will make a killing in these states, since they would have no online competitor - just as Netflix checkmated in HI by opening a Honolulu depot; no other mainland-based service could compete. Also, there are not many brick and mortars competitors in some areas of HI. Of course, making a killing in AK and HI is not going to get them megabucks (the population is too small), but still, it's nice to have a pond where you are the big fish. As for the service in general - sure, I'd use it, even if it was slightly more expensive than going to the store. Who wants to waste an afternoon shopping for toilet paper in Wal-Mart? Off the cuff, I'd say I'd be willing to tolerate a 5% price increase of my current cost for the convenience. Whether that is enough to defray their shipping, I don't know.
- tlrobinson 17y agoShipping is "free", but of course that just means the cost of the products will be higher. But if you're in a state with significant sales tax not having to pay that might even offset the higher prices.
- billswift 17y agoNow's a good time to try taking on Walmart; their prices are climbing faster than the other groceries in this area, they're still lower on most things, but not as many and not by as much. And the convenience factor should help a lot.
- aberman 17y agoHmmm....startups should take on inefficient businesses, not the MOST EFFICIENT BUSINESS EVER (Walmart).
- snewe 17y agoI wouldn't say they are taking on Walmart. Here is the CEO on making money: "We're really not a retailer at all. We make no [profit] selling goods. We make money on the advertising side of doing coupons, sampling and keywords – like if you type "shampoo," what shows up first, second, and third. We have a Google-like click model."
- Keyframe 17y agoThey are more in line with self service wholesalers like Metro AG in europe
- chaostheory 17y agosounds more like a competitor to Amazon's grocery dept and Drugstore.com I like the UI but I have yet to really compare prices
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- erlanger 17y agoalice.com needs to fire their designer...the message is scrambled and lost down the drain.