I like the moves all of these brick and mortar stores are making online. Walmart, etc. They are slowly but surely catching up, so much so that I this Amazon dominating everything is not guaranteed. Walmart and other brick and mortar stores might develop strategies to effectively compete... which will be great for consumers to be able to get everything online delivered or store pickup... with lots of deals offered. That all seems positive. Amazon dominating to me seems like a negative.
Walmart in particular seems well-positioned to pivot to competing with Amazon in retail in the US. They maintain what are essentially warehouse facilities within a short drive of a huge percentage of the population. Outcompeting Amazon in terms of a pleasant and trust-building web-shopping experience should be achievable--Amazon's UX has been getting worse over time, and achieving truly fast delivery outside of huge urban areas should be more possible for Walmart than anyone else. That said, I don't think Walmart is ready to be anywhere near bold enough to transform their assets into a true Amazon competitor because it would necessarily involve taking big risks and scaling back on the formula that has gotten them to where they are.
So I'm not hopeful, but I keep thinking someday some new CEO might just make it happen.
I’ve commented on this several times, but Walmart’s online grocery pickup app is coming along nicely. They’re doing a push to hire developers and the improvements show in the app.
You originally had to call a phone number but now you say you’re on your way and it notifies the workers to come out and put your groceries in the trunk. My wife hates going inside Walmart’s so we’d use the smaller more expensive grocery stores, but with online pickup she stores her favorite items, adds them to a cart with a $30 minimum, and picks them up the next morning. It’s super convenient and we love it. I’d be hard pressed to see how Amazon could improve upon it, honestly.
I don’t use online ordering for groceries but I find Walmart grocery shopping generally incredibly hit or miss. A Walmart is the closest grocery store to me but I’ll basically never go there to do a full grocery shopping because of generally poor quality meats, wildly inconsistent produce, frequent out of stocks etc. I’d rather go a few more miles down the road to one of two grocery chains.
Walmart is fine for most staples but rarely do they have everything I’m looking for at acceptable quality. And, yes, I dislike going in the store.
Totally agreed. Amazon’s variety of of offerings are also very confusing. You have Fresh, Pantry, and normal prime.
I cannot use Fresh... I stopped using Amazon because with Pantry you’d get short-dated product and returns are a hassle. I think they have third party supply chain bullshit as well.
Walmart is a better option, their economics are better for “middle of the store” grocery goods and I don’t have the supply chain concern that comes with Amazon.
Walmart is probably better positioned than anyone else in the US market to do so. It's worth noting that the current CEO is relatively "new" (he's been in the role only 5 years and is only 52 years old - a next generation of leader compared to his predecessors).
He is being very proactive in building out things like online grocery, investing heavily in e-commerce (recent public results showing strong outcomes) and lots of targeted M&A related to digitally native brands to broaden the accessible customer segments, spending billions of dollars to remake / refresh the 5,000 stores, etc.
<disclaimer: currently work at a subsidiary of Walmart, immediately previously worked at Amazon>
I think Walmart is doing a great job with their online presence of late and I've seen articles about local delivery experiments they were performing. There was an article on HN some time back about Walmart basically paying their employees to deliver packages on their way home from work. It got a lot of negative feedback, but it's clear they're willing to experiment and try new ideas. They've also introduced some really great free shipping policies which compete well with Prime, but don't require a subscription fee.
The shipping is why I prefer walmart. Without prime I always get the product on the last possible day or a week later. Walmart comes 2 days later. Selection is different though and Amazon has more brands/products.
More and more frequently, Walmart online prices for the same items are comparable or even better than Amazon. Nowadays I search there first and generally prefer it.
Very good points. I concur. WalMart's website is very poorly designed compared to amazon, but they generally have the same goods at the same price. WalMart will offer free ship-to-store that I can get faster than waiting for amazon free shipping, and critically, WalMart allows no-hassle returns of internet purchases at the local return counter. Amazon's return policy is good, but it's more of a hassle to deal with boxing, labeling, and shipping than just dropping off. And of course while I'm at a WalMart I'll grab other things as well, which doesn't happen at the UPS counter. So I assume others have had the same experience and that WalMart share of the online market will continue to grow, particularly if they can move their website to the same experience that amazon provides (a steep task). Their logistics and warehousing backend appears to be at least as good as Amazon's, possibly better, though that's an inference from just observing the customer end of it and not based on inside knowledge.
All good points. I think that Amazon sees this issue and working with retailers (Kohls) to set up locations that you can drop items without having to deal with the boxing, shipping etc.
It will be interesting to see how to two bridge the gaps from opposite sides. Amazon moving from online to physical | Walmart moving from physical to online
Amazon already allows you to drop items for them at a UPS store. They pay for the shipping. And UPS will handle packaging the item -- but you have to pay for that.
If Amazon would pay for packaging too, the whole problem would be solved.
It's not a big hassle, nor is obtaining the label or printing it, gluing it on, and taping the box.
These are instead several small hassles, many separated in time, each requiring low level focus and effort. Maybe a customer doesn't have packing tape in his house, a cardboard box (since he threw it out) or label glue, so he has to start by to going get those first, after having initiated the return by going to a web site, signing in, finding the right page, and filling out a form.
Customers don't have to do any of that with an in store return. You walk up to the counter at a store you're already going to anyway that day with a receipt and unwanted product and say "This didn't work" "This didn't fit" "I didn't like the color" or whatever, couple minutes, and you're done. WalMart in particular often gives cash refunds, as in actual currency in hand, after a minute or two at most at the counter.
Often analysts will say "It's not a big hassle, the customer shouldn't have a problem with it."
That is true. But what if there is a competitor who offers a product return experience without requiring a series of small hassles? Maybe they instead have a very tiny hassle? Could that difference have an effect on consumer choices? Could consumers perhaps purchase even more products because they are confident that any return won't be met with a series of tiny trifling minor hassles?
I know this is just a small part of what you're saying, but you don't have to use label glue. I use clear packing tape to both tape the box shut, and tape/cover the label.
But you're still right. No matter how easy Amazon makes it to ship a return, its still easier to return in person. The only exception is if you're not already going to that store, or don't have a car to go back to the store. I could see Amazon's hybrid in-person/online return options being the best of both worlds.
