07-24-2009, 10:23 AM
Amazon.com?
Their 2008 revenue was $19 billion. It's a far cry from Wal-Mart but it's not far off from Sears.
I buy literally everything I can from Amazon. I live in the suburbs so it's not exactly inconvenient to go to Home Depot or Target (both are probably 2 miles from me) but Amazon has vast selection, includes 3rd party sellers and can deliver anything from toothpaste to televisions to my door. Plus since it's online I can read and post reviews of items and get an idea of if Joe's $5 box of nails (rated 2 stars) is really worth the savings over Bob's $9 box of nails (rated 5 stars).
I guess their model is basically "DC only". Rather than cut out the DC and ship straight to the store, they cut out the store and only have DCs, which then ship to customers directly via UPS. And the fact that they double as a front for 3rd party vendors means even if it's not technically carried by Amazon, I can still buy it from them with no difference in appearance (other than that 3rd party shippers have a separate shipping charge).
The only thing stopping Amazon is probably the simple ability to get packages to people.
What Amazon really needs is a shipping company that operates 24/7 and will allow customers to specify a window of delivery. Luckily, UPS will drop stuff off at my door and I live in a good neighborhood but I'm never, ever home when they deliver. If there was something like UPS that could deliver in the 6pm-11pm timeframe for the same price, Amazon would take off like a rocket.
Their 2008 revenue was $19 billion. It's a far cry from Wal-Mart but it's not far off from Sears.
I buy literally everything I can from Amazon. I live in the suburbs so it's not exactly inconvenient to go to Home Depot or Target (both are probably 2 miles from me) but Amazon has vast selection, includes 3rd party sellers and can deliver anything from toothpaste to televisions to my door. Plus since it's online I can read and post reviews of items and get an idea of if Joe's $5 box of nails (rated 2 stars) is really worth the savings over Bob's $9 box of nails (rated 5 stars).
I guess their model is basically "DC only". Rather than cut out the DC and ship straight to the store, they cut out the store and only have DCs, which then ship to customers directly via UPS. And the fact that they double as a front for 3rd party vendors means even if it's not technically carried by Amazon, I can still buy it from them with no difference in appearance (other than that 3rd party shippers have a separate shipping charge).
The only thing stopping Amazon is probably the simple ability to get packages to people.
What Amazon really needs is a shipping company that operates 24/7 and will allow customers to specify a window of delivery. Luckily, UPS will drop stuff off at my door and I live in a good neighborhood but I'm never, ever home when they deliver. If there was something like UPS that could deliver in the 6pm-11pm timeframe for the same price, Amazon would take off like a rocket.