They lost Target in May, 2012. Now Walmart is dumping Amazon.
Sounds like a major business screw up on Amazons part. Losing two major retail markets has to hurt. Really, it’s three if you count Sams Club.
All this just as Amazon is rolling out the newest models. I think Best Buy is the only place left where you can try out a Kindle before buying it.
http://bottomline.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/20/13988874-wal-mart-says-it-will-no-longer-be-selling-amazons-kindle?lite
I doubt Amazon is too concerned. I’d be shocked if physical sales (as opposed to ordering directly from Amazon) were at all substantial. And it’s hardly as if Amazon needs Wal-Mart or Target to be successful.
Frankly I’m amazed other stores carried Kindles at all. It’s hardly a screwup on Amazon’s part; the conflict of interest is pretty freaking obvious. “Buy this thing that will let you buy from another store instead of us!”
cue teen girl voice*
OMG! Did you see what Walmart did? Amazon doesn’t need them anyway. Amazon’s too good for Walmart. Walmart’s just jelly :rolleyes:
I think the big box and retail stores are beginning to resent their sales losses to Amazon. Some people go to Best Buy and try out the tv’s. Then buy the model at Amazon.
Really doesn’t make sense to make Amazon even more money by selling their Kindle.
I read advice all the time to go to a retail store to check out the Kindle, and then buy it from Amazon. I can understand why Walmart wouldn’t want to be the display showroom for another store.
There’s a link at the bottom that says Target is following suit on the Kindles in the spring.
Oh snap!:eek:
Isn’t the problem that almost nobody buys a Kindle at these stores? The stores are basically just places to look at Kindle before ordering off Amazon, where they are cheaper (taxes) and come per-set up and linked to your account. I think all Kindles still come with free two-day shipping, and if not two-day shipping, it is still free.
You’re correct. The New York Times said that Target sent a letter to its vendors, “What we aren’t willing to do is let online-only retailers use our brick-and-mortar stores as a showroom for their products and undercut our prices.”
So I don’t know why you described this as a business screw-up on Amazon’s part.
That link is from an article in May - they’ve already left Target.
Well, if Amazon discounted the Kindle’s wholesale price. Then Walmart and Target could sell just under Amazons web price. That way Walmart customers would buy it there.
Even $10 less at Walmart would be enough. Thats not going to hurt Amazon’s web sales and they get their product in all those stores. Heck doesn’t Walmart have 20 thousand or more stores?
Instead, it cost more at Walmart when you add in sales tax. Of course people bought off the web instead.
Will that hurt Amazon? Buying a Kindle directly from Amazon is a relatively painless exercise.
It may hurt for sales for the percentage of people that won’t buy something sight unseen and need to play around with the Kindle before purchasing.
I do think that will be a very small percentage, especially with Amazon’s excellent return policy.
That’s the whole reason both places stopped selling them. All they were was show rooms for Amazon. People would come in to check them out, then go home and buy them from Amazon.
I don’t know why; it’s the same price at Walmart as it is from Amazon. I got my Kindle at Wally World and didn’t have to wait.
You know what Amazon should do? It should totally start a contractual obligation with someone that looks just like Wal-Mart, CostCo for example, and then then the middle of a business negotiation, it should totally breach that contract. Just to show them.
I pay taxes at WalMart/Target, I don’t at Amazon. For the price of taxes, I could get another book.
The real reason that WalMart stopped selling Kindles is because Amazon refused to put out. WalMart said that it had been business partners with Amazon since last spring and wanted to take their partnership to “the next level”. Amazon said it liked being business partners with WalMart but didn’t feel “that way” about the company. Things got ugly when WalMart brought up Amazon’s previous relationship with Target and accused Amazon of just forming a rebound partnership with them to make Target jealous.
Not for long. California residents have to pay taxes on Amazon purchases, starting this past Saturday.
To clarify, Amazon is going to start collecting California sales tax. Technically residents have always had to pay the sales tax, but I suspect in almost all cases didn’t.