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But there are so many places that Amazon does not compete with that there is a market for this. Obviously a small book store might not want to do this but what

But there are so many places that Amazon does not compete with that there is a market for this. Obviously a small book store might not want to do this but what about restaurants, coffee shops, the plumber that comes to fix your toilet (or any service industry), the local tap room, and so on. Edit: Sorry, the idea of Amazon opening restaurants, coffee shops or tap rooms (which would also mean they start brewing their own beer) reminds me of this scene from Judge Dredd: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFiDoOgRTpk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFiDoOgRTpk (Now All Restaurants are Taco Bell)

nicholassmith 12y ago
Amazon might not be competing with them right now, but they could be in 5 years time (as ridiculous as that sounds for your examples), and businesses should take the long term view. When it was just books most businesses ignored Amazon, but they've grown to encompass many, many industries now.
- weaksauce 12y ago
  You know how ridiculous it would have sounded if I told you 15 years ago that you could specify any address and get a local 360° street view of it... Even in rural austrailia or inside a business. And that comes from a search engine company... That mainly makes money off advertising. Who knows where amazon will go.
  - silverbax88 12y ago
    I don't know but Wal-Mart and Home Depot have tried muscling in on small shops multiple times and failed..meaning, opening mom-and-pop size stores. That doesn't mean Amazon will fail, just mentioning that very few people are aware that this is something the retail giants have been trying to do for some time. The thing about Amazon is that every company who should be their competitor (Barnes & Noble, Borders, Wal-Mart) constantly botches it. They have the money to fend off Amazon. I guess that's what happens when bloated, dumb corporations get real, nimble competition. It would be like if Amazon decided to take on Comcast selling cable TV. Comcast is huge, wealthy and established, but, and I don't think I would like this, but my money would be on Amazon because Comcast is rich but dumb.
    - weaksauce 12y ago
      Comcast is dumb, wealthy, established and has a huge reputation for being actively hostile to customers because of geographical monopolies.(possible that they do it because they are dumb but I put my money on the monopoly) amazon competing would be a win for consumers most likely since they are pretty actively customer focused. It would likely be a loss to the people selling through them though. I like amazon as a consumer for the most part but apparently their tactics and policies toward retailers is less than shining.
      - medell 12y ago
        Having reviews next to your shop would only be worse for your shop if you aren't a good shop to begin with. I think this is better for the consumer in the end (which is a motto Amazon also preaches), unless they turn evil and use their advantage to squeeze consumers, which isn't all that unlikely since they are a public compnay. But so far they've done a great job of lowering prices for many commodity goods, which most goods are becoming.
        CaptainZapp 12y ago
        Having reviews next to your shop would only be worse for your shop if you aren't a good shop to begin with. That doesn't necessarily follow. How about totally unfair, if not abusive reviews (http://www.modernluxury.com/san-francisco/story/the-toxic-abusive-addictive-supportive-codependent-relationship-between-chefs-an? http://www.modernluxury.com/san-francisco/story/the-toxic-ab...)? Or a bunch of people ganging up to destroy a restaurant. Even if virtually none of the reviewers has ever set foot into the place? (http://evgrieve.com/2014/05/a-google-glass-feast.html http://evgrieve.com/2014/05/a-google-glass-feast.html) A couple of bad reviews can destroy a business. No matter if they are true or not.
rgovind 12y ago
Five yrs ago we wouldn't have guessed Amazon would do tablets, its on OS, music service etc. We don't know what they will do five years from now.
gfodor 12y ago
Yeah I don't disagree with you here, just pointing out that a small business owner who does compete with Amazon should maybe think twice before being attracted to the competitive rate compared to Square.
B5geek 12y ago
Demolition Man not Judge Dredd. --Enhance your calm John Spartan.
- jack-r-abbit 12y ago
  Damn... how did I mess that up? My bad.
  - sslayer 12y ago
    Don't sweat it, obviously you're still traumatized by the three seashells.
  - silverbax88 12y ago
    Well, if it makes you feel better, Wesley Snipes did an AMA on Reddit a few days ago, and someone asked him if there would be a Demolition Man sequel. He responded politely, but basically said "people need to be allowed to forget that movie". So you are good.
nedwin 12y ago
Well Amazon have started doing a local services marketplace. If they can become dominant they can start to control the flow of leads to these businesses and therefore control margins and pricing.

nicholassmith 12y ago

Amazon might not be competing with them right now, but they could be in 5 years time (as ridiculous as that sounds for your examples), and businesses should take the long term view. When it was just books most businesses ignored Amazon, but they've grown to encompass many, many industries now.

weaksauce 12y ago
You know how ridiculous it would have sounded if I told you 15 years ago that you could specify any address and get a local 360° street view of it... Even in rural austrailia or inside a business. And that comes from a search engine company... That mainly makes money off advertising. Who knows where amazon will go.
- silverbax88 12y ago
  I don't know but Wal-Mart and Home Depot have tried muscling in on small shops multiple times and failed..meaning, opening mom-and-pop size stores. That doesn't mean Amazon will fail, just mentioning that very few people are aware that this is something the retail giants have been trying to do for some time. The thing about Amazon is that every company who should be their competitor (Barnes & Noble, Borders, Wal-Mart) constantly botches it. They have the money to fend off Amazon. I guess that's what happens when bloated, dumb corporations get real, nimble competition. It would be like if Amazon decided to take on Comcast selling cable TV. Comcast is huge, wealthy and established, but, and I don't think I would like this, but my money would be on Amazon because Comcast is rich but dumb.
  - weaksauce 12y ago
    Comcast is dumb, wealthy, established and has a huge reputation for being actively hostile to customers because of geographical monopolies.(possible that they do it because they are dumb but I put my money on the monopoly) amazon competing would be a win for consumers most likely since they are pretty actively customer focused. It would likely be a loss to the people selling through them though. I like amazon as a consumer for the most part but apparently their tactics and policies toward retailers is less than shining.
    - medell 12y ago
      Having reviews next to your shop would only be worse for your shop if you aren't a good shop to begin with. I think this is better for the consumer in the end (which is a motto Amazon also preaches), unless they turn evil and use their advantage to squeeze consumers, which isn't all that unlikely since they are a public compnay. But so far they've done a great job of lowering prices for many commodity goods, which most goods are becoming.
      - CaptainZapp 12y ago
        Having reviews next to your shop would only be worse for your shop if you aren't a good shop to begin with. That doesn't necessarily follow. How about totally unfair, if not abusive reviews (http://www.modernluxury.com/san-francisco/story/the-toxic-abusive-addictive-supportive-codependent-relationship-between-chefs-an? http://www.modernluxury.com/san-francisco/story/the-toxic-ab...)? Or a bunch of people ganging up to destroy a restaurant. Even if virtually none of the reviewers has ever set foot into the place? (http://evgrieve.com/2014/05/a-google-glass-feast.html http://evgrieve.com/2014/05/a-google-glass-feast.html) A couple of bad reviews can destroy a business. No matter if they are true or not.

rgovind 12y ago

Five yrs ago we wouldn't have guessed Amazon would do tablets, its on OS, music service etc. We don't know what they will do five years from now.

gfodor 12y ago

Yeah I don't disagree with you here, just pointing out that a small business owner who does compete with Amazon should maybe think twice before being attracted to the competitive rate compared to Square.

B5geek 12y ago

Demolition Man not Judge Dredd. --Enhance your calm John Spartan.

jack-r-abbit 12y ago
Damn... how did I mess that up? My bad.
- sslayer 12y ago
  Don't sweat it, obviously you're still traumatized by the three seashells.
- silverbax88 12y ago
  Well, if it makes you feel better, Wesley Snipes did an AMA on Reddit a few days ago, and someone asked him if there would be a Demolition Man sequel. He responded politely, but basically said "people need to be allowed to forget that movie". So you are good.

nedwin 12y ago

Well Amazon have started doing a local services marketplace. If they can become dominant they can start to control the flow of leads to these businesses and therefore control margins and pricing.