Quote:
Originally Posted by binaryhermit
On the other hand, Amazon's got the digital content ecosystem and is getting into B&M retail.
But that's probably different, I'll let someone else confirm or deny this because I can't be bothered to expend the mental effort to elaborate.
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They are indeed, and it is different. You can expect their expansion into brick and mortar to be very carefully thought out.
Acquiring Whole Foods is an example. While there are efforts to provide delivery of stuff like that, groceries tend to be things you go to a brick and mortar store to purchase. There used to be about five supermarkets near me in NYC, for example. The last one standing is a Trader Joes (an unit of the same parent company as Aldi.) That used to be a Food Emporium, which was a unit of A&P. Trader Joe's model is house brands and specialty items, and a careful understanding of who their customers are and what they buy.
I expect Amazon to make cautious forays into other forms of B&M retailing offering items you are less likely to buy from a catalog, and really need to see in person before buying. (Fashion would not surprise me. You might buy something like underwear online and have it shipped, but would you buy a suit that way?)
And Amazon starts with the distribution infrastructure they put into place to support their "Select from an online catalog and have it delivered" model, as the places it will be delivered
from are carefully selected to be near their customers. That will make stocking the B&M outlets they acquire or open easier.
Amazon is all about reducing transaction costs as a way to offer value to customers, and those costs aren't just
money. Anything they can do to make it easier and faster for customers to shop with them is in their interest.
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Dennis