question about Amazon Rising ?

[frahse]

Originally Posted by theducks

Look at what happened to Sears (Roebuck).

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Sears HAD the product, Warehouses and distribution, including 'Pickup points'
They had their heads buried and a death grip on the 'old ways'

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Amazon (and my ISP) offer what the user wants, and at a fair price. They don't play 'used car salesman' with their customers

Amen brother.

I loved to browse through the Brick and Mortar book stores. You picked up a book, read the front, the back, looked at a few pages and you knew exactly if you wanted it. "NEEDED it!!"

I loved to browse through the big Sears in the nearby town. I was a joy be be able to get exactly the single socket you needed to replace the missing one from your set. To see and feel that superb Craftsman "steel" was almost a religious feeling.

When I was a very little kid, if I was at my grandparents farm and it was raining or night so I couldn't go outside, I loved to browse that big Sears catalog.

Those were fine days with good memories, but the old mule granddaddy kept in the North "lot," though he had gotten a tractor which was up at the house, is no more.

My granddaddy is no more. Just a memory, a good memory, but no more.

We all have moved on. That is the way of it...

[Sydney's Mom]

Originally Posted by Chrissanth12

But apparently King, Rowling and Patterson all hate Amazon.

Funny, after King wrote the book about the pink Kindle (sorry, can't remember the name, it was before I got a kindle and started using Calibre)

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

Funny, after King wrote the book about the pink Kindle (sorry, can't remember the name, it was before I got a kindle and started using Calibre)

With good reason.
The title is totally forgettable: UR.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/20...king-kindle-ur

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

Funny, after King wrote the book about the pink Kindle (sorry, can't remember the name, it was before I got a kindle and started using Calibre)

Yeah, I question where the info came from. That Patterson, King and Rowling hate Amazon. Sounds like a made-up fact.

[Tony1988]

I rarely shop at Amazon. If I can get it in a physical store I do. I will gladly pay a bit more for something I can get now. Many shopped Amazon several years back because of lower prices. That really is no longer the case. I can buy most things for around the same price at physical stores or even less in many cases. I also have an easier return time if need be. Amazon does see the need for physical stores and that is one reason they bought a stake in Whole Foods. Sending produce through the mail didn't work out so well I guess.lol. Happily many physical stores are combating Amazon on that front. Home delivery service,curbside pickup etc is becoming very popular. I don't see physical stores or even the book business being ruined by Amazon. They are indeed evolving to fight the quick rise of Amazon.

As for the Amazon Warehouses. There's one in my neck of the woods now. Pretty much everyone I have spoken with that work there..do not like it. Honest Mistakes are handled harshly there. We are talking stuff like accidentally putting the wrong item in a box.

[frahse]

Originally Posted by Tony1988

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As for the Amazon Warehouses. There's one in my neck of the woods now. Pretty much everyone I have spoken with that work there..do not like it. Honest Mistakes are handled harshly there. We are talking stuff like accidentally putting the wrong item in a box.

Think about that customer waiting for that item. (Then it isn't there.)

The old rhyme depicts the situation well: "For want of a nail the shoe was lost, for want of a shoe the horse was lost, for want of the horse the rider was lost, for want of the rider the battle was lost!"

There is nothing new, modern, or digital in needing and indeed requiring accuracy!

[Tony1988]

Originally Posted by frahse

Think about that customer waiting for that item. (Then it isn't there.)

The old rhyme depicts the situation well: "For want of a nail the shoe was lost, for want of a shoe the horse was lost, for want of the horse the rider was lost, for want of the rider the battle was lost!"

There is nothing new, modern, or digital in needing and indeed requiring accuracy!

Mistakes happen. As a consumer I understand this. I have gotten the wrong item through Amazon once. I merely called and they exchanged it. Human error will happen. Especially if they are packaging hundreds of boxes a day at a quick clip.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Tony1988

Mistakes happen. As a consumer I understand this. I have gotten the wrong item through Amazon once. I merely called and they exchanged it. Human error will happen. Especially if they are packaging hundreds of boxes a day at a quick clip.

Each mistake costs money.
Often more than the product is worth so one mistake could eat up the profit from a dozen comparable sales.

Just as there are some customers that cost more than they're worth, some employees are too expensive to keep.

[sealbeater]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Just as there are some customers that cost more than they're worth, some employees are too expensive to keep.

Will automation be the answer to both problems?

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by sealbeater

Will automation be the answer to both problems?

The latter, for sure, by offloading the high accuracy functions to robots. Which is why Amazon bought Kiva Systems in 2012.

http://www.businessinsider.com/kiva-...-amazon-2016-6

Those bemoaning the Amazon warehouse jobs should take heart; eventually they will all go away. Probably within a decade.

[Philippe D.]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Those bemoaning the Amazon warehouse jobs should take heart; eventually they will all go away. Probably within a decade.

... which is also why we, as the customers, must decide what kind of market we want to support.

I still much, much prefer the traditional bookstore, where you can flip through books and where recommendations are handwritten on slips of papers next to books - by people you can actually talk to, since they're the store employees. And I'd still be buying my books there, if they had made the effort to include ebooks in their offers.

[Tony1988]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Each mistake costs money.
Often more than the product is worth so one mistake could eat up the profit from a dozen comparable sales.

Just as there are some customers that cost more than they're worth, some employees are too expensive to keep.

True. But again human error. If a worker does a good job most of the time and puts an item In the wrong box they shouldn't be treated like the devil. We are not talking malpractice here. Lol. Amazon is making loads of money and misplaced product here or there won't break them. As for the customers who are obnoxious jerks about it that is probably a customer not worth having. There is not one person who works that hasn't made a human error. It happens. Now if it happens on a regular basis YES. That person should be let go. But one or two times during a mostly excellent track record... NO.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by sealbeater

Will automation be the answer to both problems?

The problem is that you can't have turtles all the way down. There is a limit to how much can be automated, especially in a fast changing area. Even automated processes have an error rate.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Philippe D.

I still much, much prefer the traditional bookstore, where you can flip through books and where recommendations are handwritten on slips of papers next to books - by people you can actually talk to, since they're the store employees. And I'd still be buying my books there, if they had made the effort to include ebooks in their offers.

Unintentional irony?

[fjtorres]

Amazon retail operates on single-digit margins so the bottom line impact of each error is magnified. Plus it annoys customers and Amazon prefers to please customers over suppliers or warehouse employees.
(Which is why they prefer digital sales whenever possible. And why they automate as much as possible. Well built robots don't whine. I've done *remedial* warehouse work myself. Not much fun. But that's why its called work and not entertainment.)

The reason Amazon makes money off retail is that they minimize the opportunities for error. The more errors they squeeze out of the system the better for them and their customers.