Yeah I recently walked into a very fancy European city center shop, obviously the owner took pride in what they do and the products where of high quality and the customers were there.
but the price was so much higher than amazon for the same product that it didn't make sense... I asked the owner and he complained about rent.
It obviously looks good from far, but if you know you're running a business at a negative to the customer fewer and fewer will show up year over year.
I mean, I will never give a penny to Amazon again, so I might patronize that establishment.
But yes, few people think like me, and probably every neighborhood business that isn't a service or a chain restaurant will be gone in a fairly short time.
The thought just horrifies me.
What are all these people going to do?
Adults who are making a good living, who have no skill sets other than dealing politely with humans and helping them? They aren't going to retrain for an STEM position. Their jobs are going to be replaced by nothing at all, just like we did with instrumentalists, just like we are doing with artists, just like we will do with drivers as soon as we can, which seems to be a bit slower than anticipated, but is inevitable.
they always found a new way to live, 100 years ago 92% of the general public worked on a farm, thank god for the tractor and automation that we don't have to physically slave away for 12 hours a day 6 days a week to earn a living.
optimizations in the system always lead to general improvements for everyone involved. it just might get ugly in the meantime while it's happening.
and ask yourself what if the city center stops being outlets for all those things that you can find online how many different ways can that space be used that might have positive impact (more yoga studios, more art exhibitions, more workshops places, more ....).
On the amazon comparison, there can be a few aspects at play, outside of just not liking Amazon as a company.
- Many people in europe don't pay for Prime, so for them shipping costs aren't free. Then many shops also don't use Amazon's delivery, and won't be free for Prime members
- Deliveries were a real PITA in dense neighborhood before covid. Perhaps it's better now but I doubt it's completely solved.
I once got a call from a driver that got lost in our neighborhood and was expected to do something while at work. And leaving packages on your doorstep isn't an option. They introduced lockers, so uou take it at some train station, but otherwise you'd need it delivered to your job and bring it home from there (carrying the package in public transport usually), or go line up at some random shop dozens of kilometers away from your home.
- You aren't guaranteed it's actually the same item you saw in shop. It might be the same brand and type, but acually the size or color is different. Perhaps the saler put the package size everywhere instead of the actual product, or they replaced the product and didn't update etc. You easily get a exchange or refund, but go through the return and delivery process again. It happened a lot with small vendors, especially for high rotation kitchen items.
but the price was so much higher than amazon for the same product that it didn't make sense... I asked the owner and he complained about rent.
It obviously looks good from far, but if you know you're running a business at a negative to the customer fewer and fewer will show up year over year.