I hope they can do a better job than Amazon but I'm not confident. I'm currently gaming their system of one day delivery failure credits because they can't seem to wrap their heads around the fact hat USPS won't deliver to my door and the packages are too large. USPS gets a box, it won't fit, they take it back to the post office and tell me I can pick it up the next day. I contact amazon, tell them it's late because the package is too large and they picked the wrong carrier and they give me a $5 credit. I tell USPS I'm not circumnavigating a lake to pick up the package and they can send it back. I border again and go through the same thing. I've told Amazon that they can't ship large items to me via USPS but they can't seem to figure out how to handle it. I even asked them to not use USPS (they're unreliable anyway) but they're stick in a loop. I'm openly and publicly doing this and they don't care. It's stupid. Thankfully it's a low priority item and I don't actually need it. Some day it will show up... maybe.
Walmart, if you can figure out that problem, you'll have my money.
Does anyone know if Walmart has consigned, third party merchandise like Amazon does (e.g. sold by X, but shipped prime)? And if so, does it get commingled with the Walmart supply chain inventory?
My issue with Amazon is that I'm afraid of knockoffs, counterfeits and plain old cheap crap with fake reviews (really, 2000 people decided to review your plastic drinking cups?).
These days, I'm shopping more and more at Target, who offers free two day delivery on orders above a certain threshold, good prices, a curated selection of items, good website experience and most importantly, no third party sellers intermingling their fake wares.
Whenever Walmart is mentioned I like to use the rise of Dollar General to illustrate my complete lack of confidence in anything the company attempts. How on earth did Walmart see the rise of Dollar General and not think: hey we could do that, or hey we should buy them, or hey Amazon has slow rural deliveries let's innovate there. They simply gave it a half-effort attempt and then gave up the small town / discount markets (which contained many loyal existing customers), blinded by their efforts to become Amazon and attract customers who don't care about Walmart brand. Dollar General's stock has doubled over the past 5 years and has a market cap of $30 billion, I have difficulty believing anything Walmart can do in efforts to become Amazon will add value equivalent to acquiring or cloning Dollar General around 2009. The thing that really kills me is that when Dollar General started gaining momentum during recession in 2009, Walmart was still nearly three times as large as Amazon and could have used Dollar General strategies to put Amazon on the defensive in some markets, but for some reason they didn't and have been struggling to figure things out ever since. I don't even have a horse in the race, and probably dislike Walmart when I really think about it, but every time I see a Dollar General I start thinking about this and end up getting frustrated that a company could so fundamentally lose it's way, striving for something it will never have.
What I wonder: why did it take them this long? Walmart has warehouse-sized stores that are close to almost everybody. And most of America's houses are already visited 6 days a week by a delivery person. Walmart could and should have made a deal with the USPS a decade ago. It would have been great for all concerned.
Instead, they let Amazon practically own the concept, eating away at their huge distribution advantage.
I can attempt to answer this. (Disclosure: Used to work at Walmart, though as an engineer not an ops person).
Most of the stores are optimized for in store shopping. What this means in practice is that the actual back rooms where the products are stored are relatively tiny (on the order of less than 10-15% the floor space of a typical Supercenter). The whole operation is designed so that the trucks can be unloaded as quickly and efficiently as possible, and most of the stuff can be stocked straight on the shelves where it is available for purchase. Inventory held in back rooms are minimal, and all the items in the entire store turn around extremely quickly.
Contrast this with an e-commerce warehouse, which has to deal with a large 'long-tail' of demand. People are used to having a huge range of choice available, and they expect same or next day shipping on whatever they order. Now instead of having say 20 boxes each of 8 different kinds of toilet paper now you need maybe 10 boxes of 100 different kinds, and they all have to be organized such that they're easily accessible to the packing crew. To make an efficient warehouse, you simply need a different layout and assortment of products than is available in your average store. At the same time, the stores continue to generate the vast majority of revenue for your business so you can't mess up their operations too much.
Not implying that it is an impossible problem to solve, simply a difficult one. I'm sure amazon will run into similar issues as they continue to integrate whole foods.
I live in a major metropolitan area that has fought tooth and nail to keep Walmart out. Within 10 miles of my house (which encompasses pretty much the entire metro area) there is only 1 neighborhood Walmart that is smaller than many convenience stores. I've never actually traveled to visit it. Even before Amazon made the 1 day announcement, we were usually getting Amazon packages in less than 2 days since there is a huge Amazon warehouse in the metro area. The closest Walmart superstore is about 2-3 hours away from the city in rural areas. It would seem that if they are using the superstores to support 1 day shipping to the city, it will be hard for them to compete with Amazon.
I was looking for cheap college furniture a year or two ago and Walmart had a similar 'walmart prime' where you pay x$ for free 2 day shipping above a certain price point for a year. So, they've had this for a while, but not the mindshare IMO. (Other specialty stores also have this, but the mindshare isn't there).
Deal with USPS? Would be hard to find a manager who can make this work and not obviously post it as a huge disaster on their resumee. USPS continues to bleed money, is always understaffed, continues to misplace the mail and is bugged with pretty old technology that is hard to upgrade. Add unions to it and you have a perfect government entity altho USPS is not actually a government organisation. If anything it would make more sense for Amazon mail to offer USPS a helping hand ;)
They don't need next day delivery. They need a search that works, reviews that aren't fake, and a way to get products that aren't counterfeits half the time.
Amazon has skated way out onto very thin ice and is ready for disruption.
I tried to get a pair of airbuds delivered to upstate NY. Two weeks after they were lost in transit, WMT put the onus on me to speak with the shipper and track down. I canceled. Amazon has nothing to fear.
That Amazon announcement was a bait in disguise. Amazon can pull this off because they have massive logistics efficiencies that are optimized for their e-commerce business.
Walmart has to do way more because their core business is still walk-in retail. They have to literally force their model to make this happen and that's why you get low reliability on the customer offering and an unprofitable dynamic in the business operation.
That is maybe the first sign of brick and mortar retail finally waking up. Considering that technically they have one fulfillment center in every small town they should be able to achieve really short lead times out of these. Fulfillment Centers obviously being all their stores. While it is a non-trivial thing to connect all these stores to last mile courier services it is not necessarily overly complex.
Just what that means for Amazon and retail will be seen. I for my part won't be surprised if Amazon will change its focus more to Walmart. In turn that could open opportunities for new competitors.
> That is maybe the first sign of brick and mortar retail finally waking up.
Hasn't Walmart been inching into this space for a while? I already cross-shop with Amazon all the time, and for me Walmart's delivery is often quicker than Amazon's already.
The 5000 sq ft in the back of every Walmart is nowhere near being a fulfillment center. It's already full of items for the low turn-around shelves in the store. Instead, they'll be relying on their warehouses to handle this change. They were already dicking around with modifying scheduled loads to accommodate the internet sales orders, back in 2016. This will just be more of the same, really.
I'm guessing the more complex part of the operation is inventory management. The optimal way to stock a warehouse is different than the optimal way to stock shelves, and that has knock-on effects all the way down the supply chain. Plus, the inventory tracking in a physical store that is exposed to consumers is less robust in general.
A major hurdle to that is finding the space to pick and pack then organize the packages for pickup by whatever delivery company they create or partner with.
>Considering that technically they have one fulfillment center in every small town
Sorry to nitpick with an anecdote, but the closest Walmart to me is over 60 minutes away and I don't live in a small town, just one that rejects/blocks "big box" stores aggressively. Walmart certainly has a lot of stores but not everyone has one just around the corner (thankfully)
Amazon has rolled out same day delivery for my area and it is too convenient to pass up. I used to go to Brick and Mortar to get my items faster and I felt good that I was supporting them, but now I will have a hard time saying no.
Walmart has always had a terrible website experience for me. It's difficult to find items that will be in store for pick up and difficult to tell which items are part of the third party marketplace. Going to Walmart in person is equally terrible. There are so many trashy people I just stopped going, even though the prices were lower. It's the worst of both worlds.
I hope that same day delivery becomes something that every b&m retailer can provide regardless of their infrastructure. Maybe this is through Amazon or another third party. I'm wary of giving Amazon too much, but maybe this is the future and everyone else needs to get on board.
I recently ordered an iPad for my mother from Walmart (after comparing prices at Amazon, Costco and Apple store, and found Walmart's one to be $20 cheaper).
The iPad arrived literally the next day. The iPad covers, although apparently shipped from abroad, arrived in less than 7 days. I was impressed. Next time around, I'll definitely be checking out Walmart before I purchase any other items above $100 for sure.
I'm pulling for Walmart! I've seen the death of so many stores that I dearly miss (Sears, JC Penny, etc.). I can no longer get good hand tools or good t-shirts locally. And, the online stores are full of rip-offs and forgeries. Walmart is the last bastion of honest retail (where I can talk to a fellow human in person). I really hope they make it.
It's so odd to see Walmart getting cheered on as a plucky neighborhood underdog. They were Amazon before Amazon, using their huge scale to drive local competition out of business and relentlessly pressuring suppliers to drive down prices.
All that said I'm rooting for them too, simply because competition with Amazon is good for everyone.
>I'm pulling for Walmart! I've seen the death of so many stores that I dearly miss (Sears, JC Penny, etc.). I can no longer get good hand tools or good t-shirts locally. And, the online stores are full of rip-offs and forgeries. Walmart is the last bastion of honest retail (where I can talk to a fellow human in person). I really hope they make it.
I kind of feel the same way, but damn if this isn't one of those things that me from 15 years ago would think was insane.
People like Microsoft? Apple is being brought up on anti-trust issues? Walmart is "good" now? What even is this reality we live in?
Just so you know, Walmart is not the underdog. Walmart sells many multiples the volume that Amazon does, and to boot, most of the products sold are owned by Walmart. Amazon is merely a fee-taker on the majority of the product sales that it facilitates.
Walmart is the reason vast numbers of people can no longer buy anything good locally. They were killing local stores before Amazon was.
I'm rooting for their death, as I have since I first heard about them in the mid 90s, pushing out local music retailers so they can sell the censored, watered-down crap they strongarmed labels into producing.
The relentless competition in retail never ceases to amaze me. I remember when online order delivery times for basic items were measured in weeks. Now, I can order the most obscure of items and get it at my door in 1-2 days.
I've been trying to use Walmart for most of my household internet shopping needs because I dislike a lot of Amazon's practices[1].
In general Walmart is...ok. Their shipping times are pretty accurate, though they will sometimes split up shipments and don't clearly inform you. It also seems like their shipping pipeline is a lot rougher on boxes than Amazon. I ordered a window-mounted AC unit and the box showed up wrecked - the unit was badly dented and never worked.
Like Amazon, they have the problem of "seamlessly" integrating 3rd party sellers into their store which means you need to look closely or 4/5 things in your order will arrive day after tomorrow and 1/5 will arrive in 2-3 weeks.
[1] Walmart is no picnic either, but only so many companies can ship me the random products I've gotten used to.
I tried ordering a flat screen TV from Walmart. My logic was that it'd be a lot easier to return to a physical store then mail back.
I'm not sure if it was the overall trip or the final delivery but I found the package with the "This side up" upside down. Opened the box and the screen was totally shattered.
Delivering physical goods is a surprisingly persistent problem.
Circa 2003, my thinking was that by the time amazon inevitably folds and the next generation of ecommerce takes over, commodity delivery systems will have gotten good enough to enable a drop-shipping future. The sites would be aggregators (stumbleupon, digg, etc.) with a good UI and packages would come directly from wholesalers and manufacturers.
Meanwhile, it's the 20s and delivery is still a strategic capability that the largest companies on earth compete on.
When you order something online, instead of shipping it from a warehouse, it is instead shipped directly from a local Target store via UPS (you can tell from the shipping label). I've had several things delivered next day as a direct result.
The major difference is that Target aren't yet advertising that this will be the case, and therefore don't guarantee it or similar. But I anticipate we'll see Target officially announce this service when they've worked out the kinks.
Walmart still does not realize what Bezo's has done with Prime. He has made it the default option and incentivized users to check there first by removing all the friction.
Having these weird caveats and no 'membership' (which again, makes users think of Prime first) is going to keep Walmart behind for a long while.
Prime has weird caveats also, though. eg. small objects like personal grooming supplies, snacks, etc. are much more expensive if they're offered through Prime at all. (Most are offered through 'prime pantry' which forces you to buy at least 25$ worth of stuff).
Walmart seems poised to steal a lot of cost conscious shoppers from Amazon because Amazon simply doesn't offer a lot of the "value priced" product lines that Walmart does and they've basically been competitive with Amazon for shipping times for quite awhile now.
[+] [-] igetspam|6 years ago|reply
Walmart, if you can figure out that problem, you'll have my money.
[+] [-] chadash|6 years ago|reply
My issue with Amazon is that I'm afraid of knockoffs, counterfeits and plain old cheap crap with fake reviews (really, 2000 people decided to review your plastic drinking cups?).
These days, I'm shopping more and more at Target, who offers free two day delivery on orders above a certain threshold, good prices, a curated selection of items, good website experience and most importantly, no third party sellers intermingling their fake wares.
[+] [-] jefe_|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] wpietri|6 years ago|reply
Instead, they let Amazon practically own the concept, eating away at their huge distribution advantage.
[+] [-] duckfruit|6 years ago|reply
Most of the stores are optimized for in store shopping. What this means in practice is that the actual back rooms where the products are stored are relatively tiny (on the order of less than 10-15% the floor space of a typical Supercenter). The whole operation is designed so that the trucks can be unloaded as quickly and efficiently as possible, and most of the stuff can be stocked straight on the shelves where it is available for purchase. Inventory held in back rooms are minimal, and all the items in the entire store turn around extremely quickly.
Contrast this with an e-commerce warehouse, which has to deal with a large 'long-tail' of demand. People are used to having a huge range of choice available, and they expect same or next day shipping on whatever they order. Now instead of having say 20 boxes each of 8 different kinds of toilet paper now you need maybe 10 boxes of 100 different kinds, and they all have to be organized such that they're easily accessible to the packing crew. To make an efficient warehouse, you simply need a different layout and assortment of products than is available in your average store. At the same time, the stores continue to generate the vast majority of revenue for your business so you can't mess up their operations too much.
Not implying that it is an impossible problem to solve, simply a difficult one. I'm sure amazon will run into similar issues as they continue to integrate whole foods.
[+] [-] cflyingdutchman|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] irrational|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] SolaceQuantum|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] amelius|6 years ago|reply
What I wonder: why didn't USPS start an e-commerce business?
[+] [-] joering2|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] noonespecial|6 years ago|reply
Amazon has skated way out onto very thin ice and is ready for disruption.
[+] [-] criddell|6 years ago|reply
How often do you actually get fakes?
My family probably gets an Amazon delivery three or four times a week and we've never received a counterfeit item.
[+] [-] octocode|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] vfulco2|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] whoisjuan|6 years ago|reply
Walmart has to do way more because their core business is still walk-in retail. They have to literally force their model to make this happen and that's why you get low reliability on the customer offering and an unprofitable dynamic in the business operation.
[+] [-] hef19898|6 years ago|reply
Just what that means for Amazon and retail will be seen. I for my part won't be surprised if Amazon will change its focus more to Walmart. In turn that could open opportunities for new competitors.
[+] [-] m52go|6 years ago|reply
Hasn't Walmart been inching into this space for a while? I already cross-shop with Amazon all the time, and for me Walmart's delivery is often quicker than Amazon's already.
[+] [-] JWLong|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lmkg|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rtkwe|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] josefresco|6 years ago|reply
Sorry to nitpick with an anecdote, but the closest Walmart to me is over 60 minutes away and I don't live in a small town, just one that rejects/blocks "big box" stores aggressively. Walmart certainly has a lot of stores but not everyone has one just around the corner (thankfully)
[+] [-] atwebb|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] thebigspacefuck|6 years ago|reply
Walmart has always had a terrible website experience for me. It's difficult to find items that will be in store for pick up and difficult to tell which items are part of the third party marketplace. Going to Walmart in person is equally terrible. There are so many trashy people I just stopped going, even though the prices were lower. It's the worst of both worlds.
I hope that same day delivery becomes something that every b&m retailer can provide regardless of their infrastructure. Maybe this is through Amazon or another third party. I'm wary of giving Amazon too much, but maybe this is the future and everyone else needs to get on board.
[+] [-] programmertote|6 years ago|reply
The iPad arrived literally the next day. The iPad covers, although apparently shipped from abroad, arrived in less than 7 days. I was impressed. Next time around, I'll definitely be checking out Walmart before I purchase any other items above $100 for sure.
Side note: I never had prime subscription.
[+] [-] w8rbt|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] freewilly1040|6 years ago|reply
All that said I'm rooting for them too, simply because competition with Amazon is good for everyone.
[+] [-] naravara|6 years ago|reply
I kind of feel the same way, but damn if this isn't one of those things that me from 15 years ago would think was insane.
People like Microsoft? Apple is being brought up on anti-trust issues? Walmart is "good" now? What even is this reality we live in?
[+] [-] j-c-hewitt|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rconti|6 years ago|reply
I'm rooting for their death, as I have since I first heard about them in the mid 90s, pushing out local music retailers so they can sell the censored, watered-down crap they strongarmed labels into producing.
Never spent a penny there, never will.
[+] [-] towndrunk|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] throwayEngineer|6 years ago|reply
I no longer choose Amazon, I actively search for the best deal now.
[+] [-] voodooranger|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] p_roz|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] aeturnum|6 years ago|reply
In general Walmart is...ok. Their shipping times are pretty accurate, though they will sometimes split up shipments and don't clearly inform you. It also seems like their shipping pipeline is a lot rougher on boxes than Amazon. I ordered a window-mounted AC unit and the box showed up wrecked - the unit was badly dented and never worked.
Like Amazon, they have the problem of "seamlessly" integrating 3rd party sellers into their store which means you need to look closely or 4/5 things in your order will arrive day after tomorrow and 1/5 will arrive in 2-3 weeks.
[1] Walmart is no picnic either, but only so many companies can ship me the random products I've gotten used to.
[+] [-] koolba|6 years ago|reply
I'm not sure if it was the overall trip or the final delivery but I found the package with the "This side up" upside down. Opened the box and the screen was totally shattered.
Their return process was nice though!
[+] [-] jimmaswell|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] netcan|6 years ago|reply
Meanwhile, it's the 20s and delivery is still a strategic capability that the largest companies on earth compete on.
[+] [-] Someone1234|6 years ago|reply
When you order something online, instead of shipping it from a warehouse, it is instead shipped directly from a local Target store via UPS (you can tell from the shipping label). I've had several things delivered next day as a direct result.
The major difference is that Target aren't yet advertising that this will be the case, and therefore don't guarantee it or similar. But I anticipate we'll see Target officially announce this service when they've worked out the kinks.
[+] [-] bradenb|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] UncleChis|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] degenerate|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] astura|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] s_y_n_t_a_x|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] leesec|6 years ago|reply
Walmart still does not realize what Bezo's has done with Prime. He has made it the default option and incentivized users to check there first by removing all the friction.
Having these weird caveats and no 'membership' (which again, makes users think of Prime first) is going to keep Walmart behind for a long while.
[+] [-] objektif|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] SolaceQuantum|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] AuthorizedCust|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dsfyu404ed|6 years ago|reply