This is fascinating -- many thanks for sharing. This is the cornerstone of market dominance, I believe. Humans have always craved instant gratification, and the era of the internet and handhelds has only peaked our appetite in US America. How will they accomplish "next day" for little podunk towns though? Makes you wonder if they want to start their own delivery service too.
hahaha I bet all those local stores that were complaining wish they hadn't... now they're going to get an Amazon warehouse right next doors. The state of Arkansas tried to do the same with Overstock.com. The rule was if you had advertisement in the state that you would charge taxes. Overstock pulled all advertisement from the state and used the $$$ to give all the members from the state a free Overstock.com membership. Thumbs up to them. charging taxes is usually offset by shipping prices so I'm not sure what they are complaining about.
Personaly, if prices were equal - I'd much rather drive to the store, look at and test what I've been researching as well as the other options. Make a decision, then buy it. For me, thats all part of what makes buying 'stuff' fun.
Yeah but Amazon is currently cheaper. So you could drive somewhere, test it out, then use your phone to make the order on Amazon. Hell, they'll probably make an app where you can scan the barcode somewhere and they'll start the checkout process automatically. With that said, this will probably just force other retailers to lower their prices. If prices were equal I imagine there would be enough consumers interested in Amazon's model to sustain it. Make an order at work, it'll be at home when you get off. Sounds nice.
For those of you that said you'd rather drive, you're underestimating how lazy some of us are . All I have to say is blockbuster all access vs. NetFlix. Blockbuster was late to the game so they ceded the movies by mail market leader position to Netflix, but their all access program of you can get a movie at the store OR by shipping was pretty awesome. I thought cool, I can drive to the store, browse the titles, and pick the one I want or by mail so I signed up. The end result is that more times than not, it's so much easier setting up a queue online and getting the movies next day vs. spending 1 hr. to get dressed, get in my car, get the movie and come back. My 2 cents.
Exactly. For the vast majority of "commodity" items HR Dept's "test and play" purchasing methodology just isn't necessary. There are, of course, many items that it would be wise to investigate...but honestly even that would not be a big hurdle. When I buy complex electronics off amazon, for example, I read the reviews, check the specs, do my research all online. I then order it. If I don't like it, I return it. And now, I can do all that almost in the same day without ever having to get in my car and deal with a festering crowd of idiots. WIN.
This. Do i really need some kid at best buy tell me which one is better or could i make a better informed decision by myself reading cnet and other review sites?
Exactly. It's all about the reviews. When I shop at Amazon, I group my results from highest reviews to lowest. I've never had a problem with anything I've bought from Amazon and I shop there a LOT. I thought the Prime 2-day shipping was a sweet deal, but if they start doing 1-day or same-day shipping.....well, I'll never leave the house to shop again.
Again, if it works then those retailers will just match (and make it even harder on mom & pop - not that I care) - then it simply comes down to business model which there's obviously room for both. Nobody's getting destroyed. At worst Target will send middle class managers home without jobs and y'all can go complain about it in the D&D.
Best Buy, yes. Walmart, no. Walmart already has site to store pick-up, although they still have work to do to bring their online site up to par with an Amazon. Walmart also has all of the infrastructure in place. Amazon would need to make huge capital outlays, and it will take them years to catch up. Walmart, whatever else you may think about them, has the most efficient distribution system on the planet.
Maybe walmart can do it. Best buy got problems alreqdy thouh. If amazon does this bestbuy will lose its last advantage and they wont have the pockets to match it.
I was wondering that as well. Even same day delivery near a warehouse could be difficult if you're depending on a third party company. If that turns out to be a big issue they could always set up a way for people to go to the warehouse and pickup their order.
Good point. As much as I love Amazon, I always check Walmart online's price on the product before I buy. If Walmart has it in stock, the exact same product is usually cheaper. But the wait is usually longer.
Houses should come built with multiple lockers and a freezer for the grocery store too. I think this is exactly where we are headed. Everything gets faster and easier if it comes directly to you, and people will pay for the service if needed whether in the forms of taxes or delivery. We won't even blink. Only women who need to try on clothes and shoes will be forced outdoors in the future. I think most people would prefer not to go to the store. The best Buy in my area feels dead. I gotta believe it's because nobody feels the need to go to it anymore. By the way, how the heck has radio shack survived all these years? I see Best buy dying and yet radio shack is still right next door. I have no reason to go into a radio shack, but somebody must be going in there... The future is in these personal lockers at our home especially now that they have electronic keys we can hand out and shut off when we choose. That's a game changer.
