The Briefing Room
General Category => Economy/Business => Topic started by: mystery-ak on June 05, 2013, 01:27:29 pm
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Amazon to start delivering groceries in 40 U.S. cities amid fears it’ll destroy local supermarkets
By Daily Mail Reporter and Reuters Reporter
PUBLISHED: 19:42 EST, 4 June 2013 | UPDATED: 19:42 EST, 4 June 2013
Amazon is planning a major roll-out of an online grocery business that it has been quietly developing for years.
The online retailer has been delivering food to locals in Seattle, Washington- where the internet giant's headquarters are based- but they announced on Tuesday that they plan to expand the operation to include many more U.S. markets.
It will clearly be a cause for concern in the food industry as brick-and-mortar grocery stores will see their markets threatened by the familiar online store.
(http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/06/05/article-2336049-1A26C941000005DC-427_634x325.jpg)
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2336049/Amazon-start-delivering-groceries-40-U-S-cities-amid-fears-ll-destroy-local-supermarkets.html#ixzz2VLdyjJuK
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This has been tried before and it has failed before.
The fact is that most grocery stores have built their business model partially on convenience and partially on services that don't lend themselves well to delivery. The grocery chains that thrive on the mid-sized sales-- more than convenience stores, but less than the major discount chains-- have already settled into a niche that delivery services are not particularly fit to enter.
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Brick-and-mortar groceries have little to fear from this; after all, they haven't been put out of business by the other online grocery delivery services yet, such as freshdirect.com or even Stop&Shop's own Peapod service. As jmyrlefuller points out, there are differences in the business model of brick-and-mortar groceries that simply cannot be replicated in the online grocery delivery service business model.
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You fellows may be correct but I wouldn't bet money on Bezos failing. Amazon started in a garage selling only books and has grown to become the internet behemoth it is with several divisions and services.
We'll see.
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You fellows may be correct but I wouldn't bet money on Bezos failing. Amazon started in a garage selling only books and has grown to become the internet behemoth it is with several divisions and services.
We'll see.
I'm sure they'll do well, and they may very will put a business like freshdirect out of business, but they will not put most brick-and-mortar grocery stores out of business.
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Ok, and? ...but they will not put most brick-and-mortar grocery stores out of business.
Has Amazon put "most" brick and mortar book stores out of business?
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Ok, and? ...but they will not put most brick-and-mortar grocery stores out of business.
Has Amazon put "most" brick and mortar book stores out of business?
Because it directly competes with their business model. Online grocery services do not directly compete with the business models of most grocery stores - certainly they have parallels, but the differences are salient enough to make a difference. After all, delivery food didn't put most sit-down restaurants out of business either. And Amazon still has competition in the book business from Barnes & Noble.
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Ok, and? ...but they will not put most brick-and-mortar grocery stores out of business.
Has Amazon put "most" brick and mortar book stores out of business?
It is an apples to oranges comparison. Books are not a time sensitive object. You can afford to wait a couple of days to ship a book to your house if it saves a couple of bucks.
When you are out of milk, a grocery store can get you that milk now. If anything, going back to the delivery model would be a step about 60 years into the past.
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It is an apples to oranges comparison.
Hogwash.
An immediate need like milk, bread, eggs, and so on can be quickly picked up at any grocery or convenience store. Long term meal planning can be done through a service like Amazon just as one can wait a few days for a desired book, cd, video game, even clothing can wait a couple of days, less if you have a Prime membership; and you don't the inconvenience of driving anywhere with gas at about $4 a gallon.
The issue will be prices, related cost, and quality of service.
Schwans, I apparently need to remind you both, is already a successful grocery delivery service. If anyone needs to worry about Amazon it is they.
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Schwans is overpriced.
When I buy groceries, I want to see them first, not have them dumped on my doorstep only to discover the "buy by" date is tomorrow. That is why I won't bother with Amazon. I don't know what they're selling.
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My local grocery store price cutter offers delivery for a charge of $10 and I use it quite often. I know all the products in their store and they have a great online web site where I pick what I want and it is delivered and brought into my kitchen. I have many times had milk bread and a few other essentials delivered it was easier since I am now retired than going out to get it. I wouldn't have ever done this while I was still working since while I was out it was easy to go buy groceries but now I do use it especially in winter when the roads are bad.