Only at the price of undercutting their own stores. It’s the same reason Blockbuster couldn’t pivot and Netflix could. Institutions are very reluctant to eat themselves to be reborn.
In the “not so olden days” it was quite common to have the paper catalog price less expensive than the store price. In fact, the stores themselves were often the “pick up” place in addition to other depots. It didn’t seem to present much of a problem then.
This. I get amazon deliveries several times a week. Really. Sometimes they come the next day when I don’t even ask for next day delivery. Yeah, there are problems but no more than with any other retailer.
There is a tool for screening amazon reviews:
https://reviewmeta.com/
It comes with a browser extension, so when you’re on an amazon page, click the meta button and you’ll get an analysis of reviews for that item.
Amazon stands 100% behind any item sold. If you dont like it, return it free, they will credit you. Other than things like sunglasses that look a lot like Rayban- but are a tenth the price, I havent noticed any “fake” items. And those arent fake- unless they put the word “Rayban” on them.
In order for your review to be visible, you have to actually buy the item from Amazon- “Amazon Verified purchase”. So, there really arent any “fake reviews”. Now yes, several years ago, Top reviewers were offered free merchandise from Amazon sellers in exchange for a review- but there was no deal that the review be positive. Of course, if someone offers you a widget and you want that widget, usually you will be happy with that item. But, people were justifiably suspicious of the “review for stuff” offers, so Amazon canceled those years ago, and will block you and your reviews if you are caught doing that.
Most reviews are ***** because that’s is that way real people review- if they really like or really hate a item.
I have tried other sites, and other than eBay for gently used clothing, I havent found a site that is both cheaper and trustworthy. (as a aside, please note that “Wish” is full of really cheap crap. I ordered a knife and got a picture of a knife, for example. One item out of four was acceptable, but the prices were cheap).
Who cares? There is always opposition to any successful person.
Walmart might be better from a consumer experience perspective (based on your opinions, I haven’t used them), but from a market share and logistics perspective (ability to serve high volumes of ecommerce shipments), Amazon is still miles ahead of Walmart.
Walmart started very late and probably has 10 to 15 years of building out their fulfillment centers to get close to Amazon’s current capability. Walmart has 7, Amazon has 150 (worldwide) and I think around 50+ in the US. Amazon’s automation inside these facilities is very good, and they bought the robot company that brings products to the packers, so Walmart can’t use that technology (there are other approaches, but it’s not a simple problem to solve).
It’s 110 in North America
The robotic system that Amazon uses (Amazon bought the company that developed it) is a goods-to-person system. Other companies are trying to replicate that approach and sell their robots to Amazon’s competitors. And there are other methods, such as robots that travel with the pickers through warehouses. Different systems have different advantages. As you say, it’s not a simple problem to solve, but there are people who are trying. Amazon may be the biggest, but they’re not the only game in town.
Completely agree, it’s just one piece of the puzzle that limits Walmart’s options somewhat. Probably the bigger issue is simply the logistics of trying to build out a large number of fulfillment centers using whichever collection of technologies and systems they decide on.
Even with a proven system that can be replicated at most/all locations, the management of building out about 100 centers each with mininum one year duration and probably closer to 18 months or two year duration, is a challenging task that becomes far more challenging as you increase the number of centers being built at one time.
It’s far easier to learn and improve upon the leader. I remember when Kmart was the discount go to store, when GM ruled, and when Sony was on top for electronics. Technology is far to easy to improve upon when you’re smaller
This is a problem I am growing increasingly annoyed by. Amazon seems to have revised their search protocols to give a higher priority to pushing what they want to sell rather than finding what the customer wants to buy. I see it with the sponsored items as you described. And I also see it in formats; whenever I’m searching for books, I’m constantly being pushed to look at Kindle items or Audible audiobooks - because Amazon has a higher profit margin on these items.