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How Amazon can deliver $1 items overnight for free
Freight Waves ^ | October 15, 2019 | Corrie White

Posted on 10/15/2019 3:51:13 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

It used to be that ordering household items from Amazon Prime meant stocking up.

Many brick and mortar-resistant shoppers relished 48 rolls of toilet paper or 24 cans of cat food arriving at their address in two short days.

Until recently, to protect Amazon’s retail margins, Amazon has made it difficult to purchase a single item in the $1-$5 range and also get fast and free shipping – items like a stick of deodorant, a make-up brush or a tube of toothpaste.

In September, analysts at Edgewater Research started noticing that Amazon had disabled its add-on program, the system Amazon used to allow the purchasing of low-priced items, but only if they were added to create a $25 minimum, for example. On their own, items below $5 didn’t quality for free-shipping, until now.

Not only has Amazon recently increased its delivery speed from two days to one, but this shift in Amazon’s logistics should make brick and mortar competitors like Walgreens, CVS, Walmart and Target nervous.

(Excerpt) Read more at freightwaves.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: amazon; amazondelivery; amazonprime
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1 posted on 10/15/2019 3:51:14 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Lots of stores now match Amazon prices and I buy from them.

The stores that do that will be the ones that survive.


2 posted on 10/15/2019 3:54:05 PM PDT by Salamander (Is A Dream A Lie If It DonÂ’t Come True...Or Is It Something Worse?)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

When do the tax payers stop subsidizing Amazon?


3 posted on 10/15/2019 4:04:18 PM PDT by Dacula
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To: Salamander

Kirkland Signature Aged Balsamic Vinegar (33.8 oz) current price:

Costco: $10.99

Amazon: $23.14


4 posted on 10/15/2019 4:07:42 PM PDT by coaster123 (Distrust everyone under fifty.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Walmart already has the infrastructure and IT systems in place that Amazon is trying to build, and they’ve now invested in automation (ASRS) to further streamline the delivery to the customer. Amazon will continue to have a large share, but watch for Walmart to significantly grow in this space.


5 posted on 10/15/2019 4:08:58 PM PDT by bigbob (Trust Trump. Trust the Plan.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Amazon recruited a huge number of Walmart executives, to the point that Walmart sued Amazon. I expect it has also poached a large number of FedEx and UPS execs. The problem for UPS vs Amazon is that UPS is unionized, whereas Amazon is not. Amazon has the potential to become a big shipper for non-Amazon website shipments alongside FedEx and UPS. Whether it moves in that direction depends on how confident it is that becoming that huge in the shipping business is compatible with avoiding unionization. Its package handling side is already getting a lot of political static regarding work conditions. Its workers are probably getting paid about as well as union workers, but they are the best of the best in their category, the product of a gruelling weed-out process that has eliminated most of the less productive workers that tend to find a secure niche in union work forces like UPS’s, thereby dragging down UPS’s gross margins, with potentially company-ending consequences in a price war.


6 posted on 10/15/2019 4:13:27 PM PDT by Zhang Fei (My dad had a Delta 88. That was a car. It was like driving your living room.)
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To: Dacula

When legislators decide to stop warring your money.
In the meantime, Amazon is building their own fleet for want of capacity.


7 posted on 10/15/2019 4:14:04 PM PDT by ctdonath2 (Specialization is for insects.)
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To: coaster123

[Kirkland Signature Aged Balsamic Vinegar (33.8 oz) current price:

Costco: $10.99

Amazon: $23.14]


That’s Costco selling its private label Kirkland products through Amazon. I’ve bought a few on Amazon at a decent price. They were shipped from Costco.


8 posted on 10/15/2019 4:16:25 PM PDT by Zhang Fei (My dad had a Delta 88. That was a car. It was like driving your living room.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Walmart offers grocery delivery but I am too far away. They also offer quick grocery pickup. I tried it and everything went smooth. I also got $10 off.

I doubt I will use it again unless they have the $10 off again.


9 posted on 10/15/2019 4:18:42 PM PDT by yarddog ( For I am persuaded.)
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To: bigbob

Walmart already has the infrastructure and IT systems in place that Amazon is trying to build, and they’ve now invested in automation (ASRS) to further streamline the delivery to the customer. Amazon will continue to have a large share, but watch for Walmart to significantly grow in this space.

...

Amazon messed up and took 10 days to get an item to me. I got tired of waiting and ordered the same item from Walmart next day for free. The Amazon item got returned. One good thing about Amazon was the return was easy and they had a canned reason of “shipping took too long.”


10 posted on 10/15/2019 4:28:24 PM PDT by Moonman62 (Charity comes from wealth.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

How Amazon can deliver $1 items overnight for free

...

It’s not free when people are paying for Prime.


11 posted on 10/15/2019 4:28:59 PM PDT by Moonman62 (Charity comes from wealth.)
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To: Moonman62

Well some people pay for Prime and some people pay for a Costco membership. I pay for neither and in any category I’ll match my annual expenses with anyone else.


12 posted on 10/15/2019 4:44:36 PM PDT by Wuli
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To: coaster123

Costco stuff on Amazon is always higher in my experience.


13 posted on 10/15/2019 4:48:03 PM PDT by Anti-Bubba182
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To: Zhang Fei
The problem for UPS vs Amazon is that UPS is unionized, whereas Amazon is not.

I find in my local that UPS is SLOW compared to FedEx and USPS. So slow that I call them the Slowest Ship in the Shipping Business. I just ordered something on Oct 10 that weighed 20lbs that wasn't even eligible for "Prime" shipping and I got it Oct.12th. California to Illinois - delivered by USPS. UPS doesn't deliver on weekends around here either. They better shape up.

14 posted on 10/15/2019 5:05:35 PM PDT by Karl Spooner
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To: Zhang Fei

Businesses rely on UPS for several services. The USPS and Amazon use UPS for some deliveries. Although Amazon wants the residential market, they cannot provide to businesses what UPS does.

So I look for UPS to be around awhile.


15 posted on 10/15/2019 5:08:12 PM PDT by morphing libertarian ( Use Comey's Report, Indict Hillary now; build Kate's wall. --- Proud Smelly Walmart Deplorable)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I use amazon for a lot of books because I look at the used book prices. VG is basically new for good prices.


16 posted on 10/15/2019 5:09:30 PM PDT by bravo whiskey (Never bring a liberal gun law to a gun fight.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Why would anybody order one can of cat food. That’s just gonna tick off your cat.


17 posted on 10/15/2019 5:13:06 PM PDT by moovova (You can't buy it back if you didn't sell it to me.)
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To: Karl Spooner

[I just ordered something on Oct 10 that weighed 20lbs that wasn’t even eligible for “Prime” shipping and I got it Oct.12th. California to Illinois - delivered by USPS.]


It’s tough competing against a government-run entity that doesn’t have to make a profit. USPS lost $3.9b in 2018. If it had to break even or make a profit, your package would still be in transit. Speed costs money. UPS made just under $5b in 2018. UPS is trapped between Scylla (USPS, which doesn’t have to break even, let alone make money, and this is without having to deal with property taxes on the federal property in which it operates, or sales taxes on capital equipment) and Charybdis (Amazon, which is 100% non-union, and therefore has the best of the best in the delivery biz).


18 posted on 10/15/2019 5:18:21 PM PDT by Zhang Fei (My dad had a Delta 88. That was a car. It was like driving your living room.)
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To: Zhang Fei

I hear ya. USPS pension overhead is astronomical. They are very generous paid days off too. Seems like my mailperson works only in good weather. I can almost tell by the forecast whether she will show up or not.


19 posted on 10/15/2019 5:26:41 PM PDT by Karl Spooner
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To: Karl Spooner

They can probably thank James Riddle Hoffa for those wages.


20 posted on 10/15/2019 5:29:11 PM PDT by yarddog ( For I am persuaded.)
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