Most grocery stores have their own brands, even the small to medium regional stores. So this should not come as a surprise that a large store will develop its own brand.
What I do want to see is the packaging. Most items are meant to be sat on shelves, and displayed to the consumers. But Amazon items won't need to sit on store shelves (just distribution centers) and don't need the packaging to sell themselves. Will Amazon come up with novel packaging optimized for delivery, or will it be more of the same?
As a kid, the grocery store's generic brand came in yellow boxes with black letter that stated what was in the box (e.g. "Corn Flakes"). There were no other markings.
I can't see Amazon letting a cereal box sit in front of someone while they eat and not try to sell them a Kindle.
I'd also be very interested in seeing packaging that optimizes convenience while standing on a shelf. For example, boxes of toilet paper that allow you to remove rolls from the bottom like coke cans, packages that interlock/stack more efficiently, etc.
Really good point. Personally can see it being advertising heavy. Hey if it is subsidised in any way (the way Kindle with Special Offers is) that is totally cool with me.
I've inadvertently purchased a lot of low quality junk from Amazon lately propped up by fake reviews and shady third-party dealers peddling counterfeit goods. If they want to sell me vitamins and food, they need to fix their brand. Are they a supermarket that is in control what they sell, or are they a back-alley bazaar that's strictly buyer-beware?
Unfortunately now you can't even dodge this by making sure the things you buy are sold by Amazon. They deem many products to be interchangeable so they will take "Fulfilled by Amazon" stock and commingle it with stuff from third-party sellers.
Apparently you should never buy sex toys on Amazon. They're mostly low quality counterfeits, most that break easily but some that are unsafe. A lot of the good manufactures refuse to sell to anyone who has an Amazon store. Most people don't talk about it cause..sex toys. giggle
Amazon also has a book store in Seattle (a real physical bookstore). Both their air delivery and dash button ads look like they should be on a show like should be satire. But they're real. People are actually developing these things. Pretty soon we'll be consuming all the time. You'll never stop shopping.
Amazon is pretty much the new Wal-Mart. I often go out of my way to not buy thorough them and it makes me sad that they own woot now (cause those t-shirts are awesome).
Be careful if you return too many of those shitty products, they will close your account, even if you have a Prime membership. Amazon is shady as fuck and an untrustworthy retailer. The way they treat employees is beyond atrocious. Amazon makes Walmart look ethical and honest in comparison.
Yes, Amazon is good for books and electronics, but I'm getting really tired of low quality household goods. I don't even know if the reviews are fake, or if people are just uncritical and give five stars for junk.
This should surprise no one. Do you purchase things? Amazon's goal is to sell you them. Then, after it figures out how you buy them, they'll work their way up and down the supply chain to improve their margins. Done.
Standard Oil's vertical integration brought low prices to what was essentially a process that has a single input and a handful of outputs. The vertical integration of Amazon would involve billions of inputs and billions of outputs. They aren't even remotely comparable, and it is likely that, due to diseconomies of scale, a vertically integrated Amazon would be less efficient than they currently are.
I doubt they can get shipping cheap enough to make much of a dent in local supermarkets. Music and books can be downloaded. Kitty litter, not so much.
Spend 10 minutes outside of a typical suburban grocery store and try to estimate the weight of everything coming out.
Will it be used? Sure. I think it's more likely that it will push grocery chains to start/improve their own delivery services. After all, they already have "distribution centers" all over the place.
I cannot foresee how this will play out in the long term for the end consumer.
In the short term, consumers get a whole lot of convenience and lower prices. What happens after a large chunk of other stores have gone out of business?
How would any new player even approach entering the market? It almost seems impossible unless Amazon systematically screws up and leaves a gap for someone to exploit.
Google Express is an interesting counter to this - the ease of online ordering while using the local stores as local inventory holders. It mostly works (though it doesn't do fresh groceries where I am). I comparison shop amazon vs. whatever's on express, and it's pretty common to find what I want more cheaply via a local vendor, particularly Costco.
I really, really hope this model makes it possible for local shops to coexist with Amazon for those of us weird enough to want to shop online. (I say that because it's worth remembering that nobody posting here is "normal" from the perspective of consumer online habits.) I can't imagine local places are going to out-compete Amazon when it comes to high $/lb or $/cm^3 items where the amortized cost of shipping is low, or cases where it's something with very slowly-moving inventory, but shipping gallon jugs of vinegar is going to have a very hard time competing against Costco.
(oblig. disclosure: Google's paying my salary this year but this comment has nothing to do with me hacking Tensorflow.)
I believe they will compete more with Aldi and not regular grocery stores that offer everything.
As long as grocery stores still offer fresh fruit, meat, deli, florist etc...I will go there. If I need a box of cereal I will spend the extra $.50 for the convenience.
But on a day I just need basic necesities, Aldi or Amazon here I come!
I guess a new player could offer something novel? Consumers will go for novel food choices over established ones, even if the new one is more expensive or less convenient.
But then what if Amazon systematically clones every new success? Maybe everything will be subsumed into Amazon.
Maybe traditional grocery stores could leverage their existing supply chain and adapt their brick+mortar retail facilities to become Last Mile service partners with Amazon.
Curious, will such a move by Amazon make 3rd party sellers fear them more and move to other marketplaces like jet.com or ebay.com? Given amazon's margins really come from its marketplace, they might cannibalize that? Yes, amazon's value for 3rd party sellers is its massive distribution compared to others but its a supply/demand game. If 3rd party sellers start to move to other platforms, maybe jet/ebay can spend more to acquire more demand?
Given the recent problem with fakes on Amazon I worry when they move to food - in China they now fake even eggs, rice, amongst others - how will they stop that getting started sold to their customers?
This is part of Amazon's broader strategy to completely upend traditional retail. I wouldn't be surprised if Amazon follows up by launching physical stores in city centers to shelf these private label items, in addition to its Kindle, Fire TV and Echo products. I can also see Amazon stocking online best-seller items in these stores and have the stores act as last-mile pickup locations and drone delivery centers. Just think about the amount of foot traffic these Amazon stores would generate!
I'm suprised no one had mentioned instacart in this thread. Instacart has partnered with 12 grocery chains in SF. Many of them (including wholefoods) pay instacart commission and there prices are the same as in-store. With these partnerships, instacart could deliver greater diversity of products at lower costs.
They've got a long way to go to, but are building a formidable counter to Amazons grocery play.
Fanbois are downvoting me but this headline illustrates how Amazon operates. They pump the PR and press cycle to get a pop and work it for all it's worth for cash extraction to insiders. Their accounting practices are enron level egregious. This is going to blow up at some point.
*
Though I must add apology that this is a rather low information post with a low quality link. Mr. Kranzler details elsewhere in his feed the extent to which Amazon abuses GAAP.
I wish I could say that this decision is why I quit AmazonPrime and quit doing business with them already, but I already chose to do that due to how badly they treat customers, how high their prices are, and how limited their selection is.
Amazon doesn't provide useful value to consumers anymore, and before they roll out any more services or private label products, they should step back and see why all their customers are jumping ship (yes, quite a few people already have).
Edit: For those downvoting me, explain why you think I shouldn't have quit Amazon. They do not have good pricing, they don't have a good selection for a lot of things I want to buy, the Subscribe & Save and Pantry programs are extremely limited, and they keep shoving programs I can't use at me (Kindle related stuff, their Netflix and Google Music clones, etc).
I don't see the point in paying a per item price premium on top of a $100/yr fee for what amounts to a broken UX.
I'm guessing you're being downvoted because no one can figure out which Amazon you are referring to...certainly not the one selling a massive selection of items at very competitive prices with fast free shipping and the functional website located at amazon.com
For me as a parent in Manhattan, the selection covers most household shopping needs aside from adult clothes and groceries. We order once or twice a week using free two-day delivery via Prime. It's more convenient than everything except the CVS across the street, and cheaper than everything in Manhattan.
I just bought something from Amazon. To buy it in Australia would've been $149 + delivery (through the cheapest place I know). From Amazon, including international delivery, it was about $119. No annual fee. Didn't notice promos for other services you described. Seems like a good deal to me.
[+] [-] dexwiz|10 years ago|reply
What I do want to see is the packaging. Most items are meant to be sat on shelves, and displayed to the consumers. But Amazon items won't need to sit on store shelves (just distribution centers) and don't need the packaging to sell themselves. Will Amazon come up with novel packaging optimized for delivery, or will it be more of the same?
[+] [-] cgriswald|10 years ago|reply
I can't see Amazon letting a cereal box sit in front of someone while they eat and not try to sell them a Kindle.
[+] [-] neuronexmachina|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pbreit|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dgemm|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hxnjxn|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] linker3000|10 years ago|reply
WHat I do want to see is the ingredients lists.
[+] [-] AJRF|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] freyr|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] massysett|10 years ago|reply
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=2...
I use Amazon a lot but I do not trust them at all.
[+] [-] djsumdog|10 years ago|reply
Amazon also has a book store in Seattle (a real physical bookstore). Both their air delivery and dash button ads look like they should be on a show like should be satire. But they're real. People are actually developing these things. Pretty soon we'll be consuming all the time. You'll never stop shopping.
Amazon is pretty much the new Wal-Mart. I often go out of my way to not buy thorough them and it makes me sad that they own woot now (cause those t-shirts are awesome).
[+] [-] joesmo|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] TorKlingberg|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] machinagod|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] x0x0|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ruddct|10 years ago|reply
Disclaimer: Former Amazon employee
[+] [-] ArkyBeagle|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dmix|10 years ago|reply
Once same-day delivery and/or drone delivery takes off I predict the grocery store market will start to look similar to retail music/book stores.
[+] [-] saosebastiao|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] itgoon|10 years ago|reply
Spend 10 minutes outside of a typical suburban grocery store and try to estimate the weight of everything coming out.
Will it be used? Sure. I think it's more likely that it will push grocery chains to start/improve their own delivery services. After all, they already have "distribution centers" all over the place.
[+] [-] db1|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dgacmu|10 years ago|reply
I really, really hope this model makes it possible for local shops to coexist with Amazon for those of us weird enough to want to shop online. (I say that because it's worth remembering that nobody posting here is "normal" from the perspective of consumer online habits.) I can't imagine local places are going to out-compete Amazon when it comes to high $/lb or $/cm^3 items where the amortized cost of shipping is low, or cases where it's something with very slowly-moving inventory, but shipping gallon jugs of vinegar is going to have a very hard time competing against Costco.
(oblig. disclosure: Google's paying my salary this year but this comment has nothing to do with me hacking Tensorflow.)
[+] [-] fma|10 years ago|reply
As long as grocery stores still offer fresh fruit, meat, deli, florist etc...I will go there. If I need a box of cereal I will spend the extra $.50 for the convenience.
But on a day I just need basic necesities, Aldi or Amazon here I come!
[+] [-] williamscales|10 years ago|reply
But then what if Amazon systematically clones every new success? Maybe everything will be subsumed into Amazon.
[+] [-] eplanit|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] awqrre|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] fma|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zengr|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] askyourmother|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kevenwang0531|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] fblp|10 years ago|reply
They've got a long way to go to, but are building a formidable counter to Amazons grocery play.
[+] [-] enibundo|10 years ago|reply
At the point where globalisation is proving to be a very bad idea, amazon comes out with this.
I will never use this service that's for sure.
[+] [-] 55acdda48ab5|10 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] dexwiz|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mancerayder|10 years ago|reply
We're a bunch of clever geeks here, not Youtube commenters. People don't fall for that as easily.
[+] [-] 55acdda48ab5|10 years ago|reply
* Though I must add apology that this is a rather low information post with a low quality link. Mr. Kranzler details elsewhere in his feed the extent to which Amazon abuses GAAP.
[+] [-] mrgreenfur|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] DiabloD3|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] DiabloD3|10 years ago|reply
Amazon doesn't provide useful value to consumers anymore, and before they roll out any more services or private label products, they should step back and see why all their customers are jumping ship (yes, quite a few people already have).
Edit: For those downvoting me, explain why you think I shouldn't have quit Amazon. They do not have good pricing, they don't have a good selection for a lot of things I want to buy, the Subscribe & Save and Pantry programs are extremely limited, and they keep shoving programs I can't use at me (Kindle related stuff, their Netflix and Google Music clones, etc).
I don't see the point in paying a per item price premium on top of a $100/yr fee for what amounts to a broken UX.
[+] [-] pbreit|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] robbiemitchell|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] prawn|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] enibundo|10 years ago|reply