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Haha funny, but this is so very different - I can't believe how many people on hacker news can't wrap their heads around the distinction between this 'anticipat
by brenschluss 13y ago
Haha funny, but this is so very different - I can't believe how many people on hacker news can't wrap their heads around the distinction between this 'anticipatory shipping' and retail.
Amazon specializes in providing the long tail (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_tail http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_tail) to customers; Walmart is the utter opposite. By aggregating predictive data about the cumulative micro-consumption habits of users, shipping times could be lowered for the products inside the long tail.
- ronaldx 13y agoIf you don't want to compare to Walmart, compare to a mom-and-pop store who stock products that they know local customers will buy, sometimes down to an individual customer level. This is traditional stock management, pure and simple. "To minimize [the cost of returns], Amazon said it might consider giving customers discounts" -- just like any other overstocked store.
- graeme 13y agoThis still doesn't address the long tail aspect. Amazon sells things I can't get at any local merchant.
- pessimizer 13y agoNot from what it would stock near you.
- brenschluss 13y agoAbsolutely incorrect. The long tail of products and the size of a store has nothing to do with each other. A mom and pop store is not going to cater to a local population any better just because it is small. It's hilariously wrong to think that people's buying habits are localized or consistent based on geography. If I need a linear carriage, a Razer Hydra, an obscure philosophy text by Merleau-Ponty, a 1/8" straight fluted HSS router bit, a jar of Mexican mole sauce, and a monitor arm mount -- where do I go? Walmart? My neighborhood mom-and-pop store? Of course not.
- novaleaf 13y ago++ because your rebuttals actually make sense :)