Two interesting, intersecting reads. First, there’s this from Eugene Wei, about his time at Amazon:
When I was at Amazon, we obsessed over being the “site of first resort.” When it comes to search, Google is the site of first resort. When it comes to ordering a ride share, Uber is the service of first resort.
For us at Amazon, being the site of first resort for an online shopping trip was an obsession. This is why it was so critical to expand out from books to other product lines quickly. We didn’t want to cement ourselves in shoppers’ minds as the site of first resort for buying books but nothing else.
And:
A few years back I was in a wedding party, and I had to purchase a specific shirt to match the other groomsmen. I could only find it at Barney’s, and the local outlet didn’t offer it in my size so I ordered it from their website. The package was stolen from our apartment lobby, so I wrote Barney’s customer service asking for a replacement shipment. They refused and asked me to take it up with UPS or FedEx, or whoever the shipper was. If it were Amazon, they’d have a replacement package out to me overnight on the spot, no questions asked. Needless to say, I’ll never order from Barneys again, but it’s amazing to think that Amazon’s customer service is superior to that of even luxury retailers.
As much as anything, this is why the retail sector is at a historic tipping point. From this New York Times article:
Along the cobblestone streets of SoHo, Chanel handbags and Arc’teryx jackets are displayed in shops like museum pieces, harking back to the height of the neighborhood’s trendiness. But rents there are softening, and the number of vacant storefronts is rising.
Today, some of the most sought-after real estate by retailers is not in SoHo, but five miles away in Red Hook, a gritty Brooklyn enclave with a shipbuilding past. E-commerce merchants are vying to lease part of a huge warehouse space, spanning 11 acres, that would allow them to deliver goods the same day they’re ordered online.
The profound reordering of New York’s shopping scene reflects a broad restructuring in the American retail industry.
Retail is shedding jobs at a historic rate:
E-commerce players, led by the industry giant Amazon, have made it so easy and fast for people to shop online that traditional retailers, shackled by fading real estate and a culture of selling in stores, are struggling to compete. This shift has been building gradually for years. But economists, retail workers and real estate investors say it appears that it has sped up in recent months.
We’ve all known this was coming, more and more choosing to shop from the couch. These days, if I’m going to a brick and mortar store to shop, there has to be a compelling reason. Custom fit is one reason (trying on clothes, for example). Products I can’t easily get online is another (a book I want to hold in my hand and want to read today, or fresh produce I want to pick out myself).
Great customer service is more and more a minimum requirement. Amazon is obsessed with reducing the friction in the shopping process, and that means great customer service and easing the pain of returning a purchase. For me, Amazon is the “site of first resort.”
Amazon was the site of first resort for me, but recently I have lost trust that what I am buying is legitimate, so I try to shop elsewhere when possible.
Nothing personal, but one way to you know you’ve really lost it is when you write an Article praising Amazon, lol.
Amazon is probably the most anti-consumer, anti-worker organisation around today. The things they do are beyond despicable. Literally the only thing they have going for them is their pricing, and if pricing is your main concern when buying consumer goods, you are “doing it wrong.”
The biggest problem physical stores have in my opinion is the fact that nobody knows anything. I walked into a motorcycle chain store this weekend and I would bet that half the staff had never even sat their butt on a motorcycle. They didn’t know what they had in stock, they couldn’t tell me the difference between brands. Worthless.
On the other hand I shop at a locally owned drum shop exclusively. His prices aren’t as good as the big online stores, but they are close enough, and the guy is a literal treasure trove of knowledge and information. He can tell me every detail about every product he carries in addition to playing tips, techniques, you name it.
I think retailers are simply going to have to step up their game and start adding more value to the process.
Me too, my trust that I’m not getting a counterfeit keeps dipping. I’ll use Amazon to search a product but then look to order directly from a maker, if possible.
I would really love it if I could ask Siri, or search Maps, for products in stores physically near me. Then use Apple Pay to order directly from their inventory and have it shipped or held for me to drive over and grab.
For several years we’ve had an Amazon-as-last-resort policy. We haven’t made it a hard rule never to buy from Amazon (or an Amazon-owned company), but we do try to avoid it. This is due to my girlfriend’s tenure as a bookstore clerk, and Amazon’s tactics in this area pushing bookstores to the brink. The last straw was the Amazon program to allow people to go into a brick-and-mortar bookstore, use their phone camera to scan a book, and order it right there from Amazon.
I don’t know if that is in and of itself illegal or unfair, but it definitely feels slimy, to grab someone once they are already in the store, to turn the business into a browsing area for the competitor.
It used to be, before the Internet, people did this all the time…but it required legwork, effort. Now it’s frictionless.
It occurs to me, as I’m typing this, that I do this exact thing to Amazon all the time…look up products on their site, but then go elsewhere to buy it because of these feelings. I’m biased, so I can’t really tell if this is different (hey, I’m just window shopping, not stealing customers) or I’m just being hypocritical. I’ll let others be the judge.
We try to purchase from local businesses now, generally.
Agreed. If at all possible, we don’t shop on Amazon anymore. Beyond their questionably ethical behaviors, they have serious counterfeit and fake review problems. For instance, check the reviews for a supposed Apple Lightning to 3.5mm Headphone Adapter:
https://www.amazon.com/Apple-Lightning-3-5mm-Headphone-Adapter/dp/B01LXJFMGF
Given the questionable reviews, how confident can we be that this isn’t a knock-off? As for fake reviews, here’s a good example for a competing product:
https://www.amazon.com/Lightning-Adapter-Female-Headphone-Converter/dp/B06XTQWNTN
First off, it specifically states it doesn’t even support music control (unlike Apple’s OEM adapter, which does), and costs $20 (over twice as much!), and yet, it has a 5.0 star review — all unverified, and all written within the same time frame. How can Amazon justify leaving a scam product/page up like this?
Whenever possible, we try to shop locally. If a local shop offers good service, we’re more than happy to pay more vs. saving a little at Amazon. (To us, the inherent value in expert advice, time/frustration saved, purchase satisfaction, etc… of a local store with knowledgeable, friendly staff far outweighs any price discount at Amazon.)
For specific categories of consumer tech accessories, I agree.
Larger retailers are often run by people who can only respond to these conditions by making staff cuts and hiring workers at ever-lower wages. Of course, they get what they’ve paid for, but if they can squeeze out a few quarters of simulated “improved efficiency,” they’re out of the company and off to the next feeding ground. Rinse and repeat.