When I suggested this was going to happen a few years ago people laughed.
.....hired to do something else, such as filling carts with online orders at an Amazon fulfillment center versus restocking shelves
Buggy whip industry
The giant internet retailer said on April 27 that it will create 2,000 full-time jobs by opening two more fulfillment centers in New Jersey.
Does this mean Jersey has not run afoul of the LGBT activists, who were shocked, just shocked, that North Carolina passed a law saying men go to the men’s room, women go to the ladies room? Is Jersey sufficiently liberal for Amazon??? Is Amazon run by liberals???
Probably Amazon, just like the switch from American brands of cars in the 1980's never reversed since then. Once shoppers get used to buying on-line, there won't be any going back. It will be like Uber instead of a cab stand.
In my case - at 70 years old - between going into town after dark becoming dangerous, and the pouty, rude, and ignorant sales people in stores, shopping on line is much better.
For instance, a woman with attitude working at the local lawn mower parts house wanted $70 for a lawn mower blade...$70, for a blade. I found it online for $25, and it was delivered to my front door.
Shopping online is the wave of the future.
It’s been happening for 20 years. That’s why all the malls have been dying.
Mot retail locations have turned into flea markets: Disorganized, stale inventories, and lacking of quantities.
Why pay companies for Chinese made products?
They cut Americans out of making the products, buy direct online from China and cut out the companies. Most companies Chinese products for $1 and sell to Americans for $50.
We have a zero sum economy or a less than zero sum economy. So others must shrink while Amazon expands. On my own purchases from Amazon I find them making many mistakes. They then throw some Amazon credits to me as their way of apologizing. The USPS messes up/loses a delivery? Amazon credits it back to my cc card....and the package shows up five days later. In fact Amazon messaged me and flat out said that rather deal with the USPS they find it more efficient to credit back the purchase price to me
Just because you are ultra-computerized does not make Amazon flawless. There are too many human factors and fails built into the Amazon machine.
FWIW David Stockman says Amazon is a bubble stock, one of the largest.
One of my kids works Amazon fulfillment, and they are pretty ruthless employers. They hire seasonally, and the turnover is managed to reduce labor costs. The white/blue collar divide is one of the biggest in the country. White collar opportunity is decent, but blue is almost nonexistent. It is the most heavily automated in the industry, but there are still many intensive positions that machines still can’t perform.
The line jobs have benefits and the pay is commensurate with the work, but most should be considered simple jobs, not careers. The idea that some jobs are not careers seems to have been lost recently, and many people are being Berned by this lack of discernment.
Well retail store jobs were (traditionally) a low level entry job for the most part. Thanks to lack of manufacturing that’s been changed. The root of the problem isn’t Amazon...it’s lack of real jobs.
I buy nearly all my clothes now on Amazon. One heck of a lot better than traipsing from one department store to another and still not finding what you want.
This is the inevitable evolution of our market. People were conditioned by Walmart and others to get much more for their money, disregarding the “middle man” retailer, who for generations has been berated, many times appropriately and many times unfairly, as a gouger.
People are trading price and the convenience of home delivery for personal customer service.
I can’t blame the consumer, and I am a retailer myself. I have adjusted for this competition.
I hope Barnes and Noble stays in business. If it folds, I will be 40 miles away from the nearest bookstore—and I live in an urban area.
It’s no different than when Sears dominated retail in the previous two centuries with their catalog business.
Stores should just adopt the Amazon model, and reduce the size of their big box stores.
I dont have time to go to these places, and Amazon Prime is just too good a deal to pass up.
I bought car parts on Amazon - not available at the main dealer.
I bought coffee on Amazon - brand not available at bricks and mortar.
I bought a garden tool on Amazon - not available at the main dealer.
I bought cat food on Amazon - brand not available at bricks and mortar.(fussy cat!)
Need I say more?
I have been re-building my truck and a couple times now, made an effort to use somebody locally instead of buying online.
I talked to 3 or 4 driveshaft shops here locally to have a short driveshaft made up, nobody would do it for less than $325. I did a little research on the internet, bought 2 pieces off amazon that fit together to make a 8” long driveshaft for $34 shipped to my door. Granted, I think somebody made a mistake, because if I were to reorder the same thing now, it would be about $150, but still less than half price.
Then when it came to Paint, I tried some local shops and best I could do was going to be $100 for a quart of primer or $160 to buy a gallon... paint was $400 and up depending on brand, I got a half gallon of epoxy primer and a gallon of paint from eastwood.com for $160 shipped to my door.
Because of Amazon’s fee’s it was a little more to make the same paint order from Amazon, so unless you are buying something from Amazon, I would recommend going up the line to the website of whoever Amazon is selling it for...
I ordered a camera from Canon last Sunday. Free shipping
Expected it one day next week. Came Wed.
I’m a big user of Amazon. I’ve got several orders in process/shipment right now. I do it because I can almost always find what I want.
I used to have a policy of making one attempt (usually most of a day) trying to find x at brick and mortar stores before going online. I’ve pretty much given up on that because my success rate was so low and it just pissed me off.
I found out there was a Dollar Tree close by and I bought 5 Pairs of Cheap Sunglasses. I have a habit of dropping them.
Couldn’t find the same deal on Amazon.
I’m taking ZZ Top’s advice.