

Amazon is the Next Generation's Wal-mart - scottieh
http://seekingalpha.com/article/146233-amazon-is-wal-mart-the-next-generation?source=feed
Friendland also contends that “Amazon’s aggressive investment in search, site content, customer service, digital distribution and third party platform have resulted in a sustainable competitive advantage.”
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Gimbal
Customer service, indeed. I use Amazon.com on a regular basis, for their MP3
downloads, and just started using 'em for MTB accessories (gloves, saddlebag,
bug repellent, etc)

One thing that differentiates Amazon.com from walmart, though: Amazon.com
supports individual retailers, in a serious -- and, I suppose, fun looking --
way

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luckyland
Does Walmart give local, independent retailers or manufacturers floor space
and transactional support?

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padmanabhan01
It is a question of who is more important - local residents or local
manufacturers. If walmart can help local residents save money by cutting
costs, why not?

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ColemanF
excellent point

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russell
Amazon has it nailed for books, but I find that it is only middling for other
products. More often I purchase elsewhere. Amazon Prime is great but it often
doesn't apply to heavier products. Anything carried by a third-party Amazon
store probably has a cost disadvantage compared to a standalone web site. That
being said, Amazon probably does have a significant advantage due to its
infrastructure.

EDIT: I've looked at things recently that Prime didnt apply to, Torani syrups
for example. These were from third party stores. It may be the individual
stores option whether it participates in Prime.

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scottieh
to my knowledge, prime applies to everything -- and it's a huge success.
piperjaffray reports there are about 2 million Prime users worldwide and a 20%
increase in spending on Amazon after users sign up for Prime.

2m users x $79 per year = $158 million by the way. huge. and that's just
revenue from the subscription service, not including the average order
increase. plus a 92% renewal rate.

re: amazon stores -- third-party amazon stores offer a great deal for
retailers who want to backfill their inventory with products they don't
actually carry. amazon then pays the retailer affiliate fees, and the buyer
doesn't know the difference.

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ajju
Re: "to my knowledge, prime applies to everything"

It definitely doesn't apply to items sold by third parties

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scottieh
definitely not true. Fulfillment by Amazon enables third-party products to get
Amazon Prime and Super Saver Shipping -- my mintsy.com business utilizes this

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ajju
Yes, but a large number of items sold by third parties are not fulfilled by
amazon.com. For example if you look at the treadmills in the sports section,
only items sold by Amazon.com have prime or super saver.

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scottieh
Your point is valid -- Amazon does enable third-party sellers onto the
platform that don't utilize Amazon's shipping infrastructure (FBA, which is a
recent development). But online retailers can easily leverage FBA to become as
competitive with Amazon in terms of shipping perks.

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scottieh
Friendland also contends that “Amazon’s aggressive investment in search, site
content, customer service, digital distribution and third party platform have
resulted in a sustainable competitive advantage.”

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kvs
Amazon is the next gen's ConEdison/PSEG is something to note as well. Would
have been interesting to look at how the strategy of being #1 in book sales
and introducing Kindle at the right time to handle the transition to e-books
came about. The amount of forethought is intriguing.

