Yes but Costco only has a specific set of things that I'm looking for
I think, as a society, we're going to have to get away from the notion that buying everything in one place is the ideal.
We distribute computing, diversify investments, and decentralize everything from government offices to manufacturing. I think a certain amount of decentralization in shopping is OK if it means I don't have to deal with Amazon's counterfeit products, fake reviews, and conmen.
If I have to go back to the days of buying my groceries at the grocery store, my hardware at the hardware store, and my computers at the computer store, I'm OK with that.
I travel out of my way to go to a real butcher where I can see the cows going in the back of the building, and the results in the cold case in front. I know the meat hasn't been frozen (coughWhole Foodscough), isn't in storage so long it has to be pumped full of gas to keep its color, and if I want exactly six ounces of something, I watch the guy cut it fresh right in front of my eyes.
He's also an asshole, but I'd rather deal with his attitude than the perils, known and unknown, of a retail experience 100% controlled by an algorithm with no pride or ethics.
Is it perhaps possible that your priorities might not find a reflection in all hearts?
Many people do not regard the time, energy, and resources that go into the logistics of managing many vendors to be good investments for them. This can be compared to distributed computing, somewhat distributed manufacturing, distributed government, and diversified financial portfolios. Each of the items you so correctly, wisely, and rightly point to comes with significant cost efficiencies and significant energy in reducing any inefficiencies introduced.
I know a great many people who appreciate very high-quality meat of the sort you describe. The number who are willing to invest significantly into the personal logistics required to obtain it could potentially be a somewhat smaller number. To say nothing of the price premium generally demanded by such a specialist, or the impact this might have on household budgets with limited flexibility.
It's worth thinking about why department stores might have became popular, long ago, displacing a series of highly specialized expert vendors. It's perhaps even possible that an analogy of a distributed computer system might lead a lesser intellect than yours astray.
Many people do not regard the time, energy, and resources that go into the logistics of managing many vendors to be good investments for them
I don't disagree with this at all. I was one of those people for many years. But more and more I'm not that person anymore.
I don't think it's a good thing that one method (the all-centralized Amazon/Wal-Mart/Costco/Meijer hypermarket) be elevated to the status that it has, where it's seen as the epitome of retail evolution. It has been allowed to destroy other forms of retail because it uses euphemisms like "disrupt" instead of "destroy" and "value added" instead of "predatory." It pretends to be a tech company and not a retailer that's really really good and developing and implementing technology.
Just because the Amazon monster is wanted by a certain group of people doesn't mean that the other methods don't have value. That's why there's such a movement among hipsters (are they still a thing?) and others to shun the mass market in favor of more thoughtful methonds, online or otherwise.
I think Amazon is great, and I still use it on occasion, but we shouldn't deify a business model. As you noted, department stores were once the fashionable thing. One day Amazon's methods will also seem passé.
Is it perhaps possible that Amazon has been so very successful because they have indeed added value by reducing the personal logistics required of a great many people? Coupling that with equivalent or better prices is a substantial addition of value, rather than predatory, in the eyes of many.
From personal experiences, I do not view taking the time out of my day to go to the household goods store for toilet paper, paying 10% more than Amazon charges, and transporting it home to be of greater value than Amazon's offering. Of course, there are exceptional scenarios where this might shift (e.g., out of toilet paper), but I expect a great many people would agree with my approach. I understand you and some others may prefer to pay extra in both money and time with your local generic housewares vendor.
You're absolutely right that other approaches have value to some people. It may be worth considering that not all people are likely to agree with the status-seeking behavior patterns of the hipsters, even when they take the form of favoring things purportedly thoughtful.
And obviously - so obviously I thought it never needed to be said by anyone - no business model should ever be deified. We do seem to be at a local maximum in some ways, that's all.
Incidentally, where would you draw the line between "tech company" and "company that's really, really good at developing, deploying, and gaining economic efficiencies from technology"?
The trouble with taking shopping back to brick and mortar is that half the best stores, and especially the eclectic specialists that had the interesting and quality things, have closed down over the last 10 years. Leaving many areas with little more than basics and discount chains. In good part thanks to Amazon and the rise of online. Five or more years after it closed I still haven't been able to fully replace the local hardware store, offline or on.
There's an awful lot more charity shops because the landlords struggle to rent all the retail units, far more betting shops everywhere, but very few new shops opening to fill the gaps.
Meanwhile Amazon isn't a patch on what it was before the rise of marketplace.
Backing out of everything at Amazon could prove difficult.
Backing out of everything at Amazon could prove difficult.
You are absolutely right. But this is a problem that was solved once before. It was plain old "mail order."
What Amazon built is an amazing logistics platform. But it got polluted by individual sellers and fly-by-night operations. Imagine ordering from a Sears catalog and not knowing if what you ordered is genuine or not.
If Amazon, or some other company, put together a platform that leverages modern-day logistics for small businesses, it would be a massive boost to the quality of what we buy, the variety of what we buy, and the small business economy.
Think of it as 21st-century mail order. Except instead of Amazon monopolizing the front end with an enormous shopping web site filled with garbage, it allows individual shops to use their own web sites on the front, and Amazon's distribution on the back end.
Amazon can keep the bulk of the crap on the front side and continue to co-mingle counterfeit garbage with quality merchandise. But at the same time allow individual merchants the ability to piggy back on its distribution.
And if Amazon doesn't want to do it, maybe FedEx or UPS, or some other company. I see lots of ads about "What can Brown do for you?" and a lot of promises. But I've never seen a company offer Amazon-class logistics that work.
If I can order a real item by phone, text, web, or whatever comes next from a small shop in Portland, Oregon and have it arrive from that store in the next day or two, I would certainly choose that over taking a chance going to a massive web site and getting a cheap knockoff drop-shipped from China.
You know, re-reading that, I'm not entire sure what I'm on about.
It makes sense in my head, but doesn't seem to translate well to text.
I guess I'm just disappointed that the internet was supposed to free us from the tyranny of a few large companies deciding what we can buy, and we've let the same thing happen all over again. All we done is change the names from Macy's to Amazon, Sears to eBay, and Wal-Mart to... Wal-Mart.
Well. I think I get the gist from that. Let's see if it's the one intended :)
"Imagine ordering from a Sears catalog and not knowing if what you ordered is genuine or not."
There's the thing. That would mean they'd failed, and someone in their buying department may get yelled at. They'd feel it was their reputation hurt even if it was someone else's fake. On the high street it's the same unless you go to markets or "sub-prime" independents.
Amazon seem to feel their brand is entirely separate from the people selling crap on their platform. I think they're very mistaken, and are in for a rude awakening if they keep it up.
Amazon could have taken marketplace in a different direction when they started it and kept much of their early reputation. Simply by doing enough of the buying checks the traditional sector did to ensure legitimate sellers and baseline quality. It'd cost a little more in staff and time, but would probably pay for itself in fewer returns, refunds and complaints. Marketplace could have been for products that meet Amazon's standards, rather than Amazon, the store with no standards, but fast refunds. Limit it to "enough" choice, lose the counterfeiters friend of co-mingling etc.
I'm disappointed someone else hasn't tried to do this, even if at a smaller scale than Amazon. Etsy, ebay etc leaves it all to the sellers and ratings. Price isn't everything.
No one benefits except the garbage sellers from 30 copy "brands" of every product, and crap promoted in every search. Most with fake reviews, terrible quality, short life, and no chance of warranty service.
Someone should disrupt them, but given how large and pervasive Amazon are, they'd better have deep pockets.
> I travel out of my way to go to a real butcher where I can see the cows going in the back of the building, and the results in the cold case in front. I know the meat hasn't been frozen (coughWhole Foodscough), isn't in storage so long it has to be pumped full of gas to keep its color, and if I want exactly six ounces of something, I watch the guy cut it fresh right in front of my eyes.
It is truly a great privilege to be able to do that. I have neither the time nor the ability to go to a real butcher so I will keep buying from Whole Foods (or other local organic markets), tyvm
I think, as a society, we're going to have to get away from the notion that buying everything in one place is the ideal.
We distribute computing, diversify investments, and decentralize everything from government offices to manufacturing. I think a certain amount of decentralization in shopping is OK if it means I don't have to deal with Amazon's counterfeit products, fake reviews, and conmen.
If I have to go back to the days of buying my groceries at the grocery store, my hardware at the hardware store, and my computers at the computer store, I'm OK with that.
I travel out of my way to go to a real butcher where I can see the cows going in the back of the building, and the results in the cold case in front. I know the meat hasn't been frozen (coughWhole Foodscough), isn't in storage so long it has to be pumped full of gas to keep its color, and if I want exactly six ounces of something, I watch the guy cut it fresh right in front of my eyes.
He's also an asshole, but I'd rather deal with his attitude than the perils, known and unknown, of a retail experience 100% controlled by an algorithm with no pride or ethics.