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Every time Amazon rolls one of these services out that is supposed to make it hard on the brick-and-mortar competition, Amazon's fulfillment centers are mention

Every time Amazon rolls one of these services out that is supposed to make it hard on the brick-and-mortar competition, Amazon's fulfillment centers are mentioned, which also have to be brick and mortar. I believe Walmart/Sam's Club, Costco, and Target have a decided advantage on the real estate/fulfillment center side. Every store can be a "fulfillment center". The trick for these guys is going to be not waiting until the foot traffic dries up before they attack Amazon directly. And of course they already are to some extent, but if you read these articles about Amazon that seem to appear every week, the perception seems to be that the old players have no chance at competing. A huge caveat for Amazon is they still don't make a profit. Whether that's by choice, I'm not really sure.

espadagroup 13y ago
Not sure if you've been in a real full size fulfillment center before, but while both it and a Costco store look like a big box they are remarkably different and there's no way you could operate both under the same roof.
- goatforce5 13y ago
  As I understand it, using existing retail stores to fulfil internet orders is exactly how Tesco in the UK operates their grocery delivery operation. http://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/sep/24/tesco-dark-stores-online-shopping http://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/sep/24/tesco-dark-s... says that they've started to build additional delivery-only stores(/warehouses?) in areas where their is sufficient demand to warrant it. Doing it this way meant the managed to avoid the huge upfront costs in building specialist warehouses, and instead used their existing network of hundreds of stores that exist all over the UK.
- frogpelt 13y ago
  It would require some remodeling. But my point is that these box stores already have a clear advantage in fulfilling orders because they already have stores and distribution centers built all over the country. Amazon is still trying to figure that part out. Competing with Best Buy and Barnes and Noble is going to be a lot easier than competing with Wal-Mart.
hatred 13y ago
Well , Amazon does make a profit on every purchase. It's just that they think it is wise for the time-being to invest it in opportunities which will yield better value in the foreseeable future and I find nothing wrong with that.
malandrew 13y ago
The problem for them is how to make the stores still feel like stores, while also automating them to the level of Amazon warehouses. They would have to have robot shoppers that can navigate the same store as human shoppers to be able to compete with Amazon effectively before foot traffic dries up.

espadagroup 13y ago

Not sure if you've been in a real full size fulfillment center before, but while both it and a Costco store look like a big box they are remarkably different and there's no way you could operate both under the same roof.

goatforce5 13y ago
As I understand it, using existing retail stores to fulfil internet orders is exactly how Tesco in the UK operates their grocery delivery operation. http://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/sep/24/tesco-dark-stores-online-shopping http://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/sep/24/tesco-dark-s... says that they've started to build additional delivery-only stores(/warehouses?) in areas where their is sufficient demand to warrant it. Doing it this way meant the managed to avoid the huge upfront costs in building specialist warehouses, and instead used their existing network of hundreds of stores that exist all over the UK.
frogpelt 13y ago
It would require some remodeling. But my point is that these box stores already have a clear advantage in fulfilling orders because they already have stores and distribution centers built all over the country. Amazon is still trying to figure that part out. Competing with Best Buy and Barnes and Noble is going to be a lot easier than competing with Wal-Mart.

hatred 13y ago

Well , Amazon does make a profit on every purchase. It's just that they think it is wise for the time-being to invest it in opportunities which will yield better value in the foreseeable future and I find nothing wrong with that.

malandrew 13y ago

The problem for them is how to make the stores still feel like stores, while also automating them to the level of Amazon warehouses. They would have to have robot shoppers that can navigate the same store as human shoppers to be able to compete with Amazon effectively before foot traffic dries up.