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Oh man I don't know what this says about Amazon's prices, that Wal-Mart had trouble matching their prices. And we know all the places where Wal-Mart has cut cor

by atonse 12y ago

Oh man I don't know what this says about Amazon's prices, that Wal-Mart had trouble matching their prices. And we know all the places where Wal-Mart has cut corners. I don't even want to think about how badly amazon's warehouse employees are treated. (Although I've read one long account that wasn't good). But Amazon has made the purchasing process so smooth, that it's hard to resist.

rdtsc 12y ago
The thing is for some products people like to try/see before they buy. If it is a laptop, maybe bang on the keyboard a bit, hold it, and so on. BestBuy is such a place, but then they leave and buy it online. How does the joke work, BestBuy is Amazon's showroom? Also some people like to get it the same day. If it doesn't work they can also return it the same day and then get something else. If Wal-Mart advertises price matching, they will appeal to those people. A lot of Americans still believe in brick-and-mortar stores. People line up for days before Black Friday to get in to these stores to get a "deal". I never understood the level of desperation and what would drive someone to spend that much time in the cold. But people do it and stores play along.
- adamfeldman 12y ago
  People line up because they enjoy the adventure, the hunt. It's people getting to live on the edge, but within the confines of consumerism. (not making any judgements here). Best Buy will also do online price-matching, for certain major online retailers like Amazon: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/help-topics/price-match-guarantee/pcmcat297300050000.c?id=pcmcat297300050000 http://www.bestbuy.com/site/help-topics/price-match-guarante...
untog 12y ago
I'm not so convinced about that. Walmart has to spend a ton of money on real estate in reachable locations, as well as waste space laying out products for shopping rather than storing. By comparison Amazon can buy a warehouse in the middle of nowhere and stack items as high as they will go.
- digikata 12y ago
  Walmart has historically been pretty good with logistics. So it will be interesting to see if they can get stores to also serve as buffers for localized shipping of products to where many customers already live.
- tracker1 12y ago
  A lot of amazon's costs are shipping, which may be close to a wash with Walmart... also, Walmart is setup to sell more perishable goods than Amazon... Given Walmart's supply chain, and Amazon trying to get closer to consumers with Amazon now charging tax in a lot of locations, many larger items may be a wash in terms of profit margin between the two.

by atonse 12y ago

rdtsc 12y ago

The thing is for some products people like to try/see before they buy. If it is a laptop, maybe bang on the keyboard a bit, hold it, and so on. BestBuy is such a place, but then they leave and buy it online. How does the joke work, BestBuy is Amazon's showroom? Also some people like to get it the same day. If it doesn't work they can also return it the same day and then get something else. If Wal-Mart advertises price matching, they will appeal to those people. A lot of Americans still believe in brick-and-mortar stores. People line up for days before Black Friday to get in to these stores to get a "deal". I never understood the level of desperation and what would drive someone to spend that much time in the cold. But people do it and stores play along.

adamfeldman 12y ago
People line up because they enjoy the adventure, the hunt. It's people getting to live on the edge, but within the confines of consumerism. (not making any judgements here). Best Buy will also do online price-matching, for certain major online retailers like Amazon: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/help-topics/price-match-guarantee/pcmcat297300050000.c?id=pcmcat297300050000 http://www.bestbuy.com/site/help-topics/price-match-guarante...

untog 12y ago

I'm not so convinced about that. Walmart has to spend a ton of money on real estate in reachable locations, as well as waste space laying out products for shopping rather than storing. By comparison Amazon can buy a warehouse in the middle of nowhere and stack items as high as they will go.

digikata 12y ago
Walmart has historically been pretty good with logistics. So it will be interesting to see if they can get stores to also serve as buffers for localized shipping of products to where many customers already live.
tracker1 12y ago
A lot of amazon's costs are shipping, which may be close to a wash with Walmart... also, Walmart is setup to sell more perishable goods than Amazon... Given Walmart's supply chain, and Amazon trying to get closer to consumers with Amazon now charging tax in a lot of locations, many larger items may be a wash in terms of profit margin between the two.