For my own case, I find a lot of value in being able to see an item in person before I buy it, although I guess I'm a bit of an oddball in that regard. Of course, it depends on the item. Clothing definitely needs to be in-person, but consumer electronics much less so.
That being said, I think there's also something to be said for these superstores having the advantage of being able to use their stores both as showrooms and distribution hubs. Amazon definitely got the jump on a shipping-focused logistics network, but now a lot of larger format stores have gotten better at digitizing their inventories and using their stores as warehouses as well. Just warehouses that you can also walk around in and shop from directly. It may not be quite as efficient as Amazon and its giant robot warehouses, but I feel like that's more marginal than we give it credit for.
Also, I feel like Amazon has had more of a legitimacy crisis these days, with a lot of the stuff you can purchase on there being of questionable quality. It may be convenient up front, but having to return stuff all the time is such a drag. At least in-person shopping tends to be from established brands and you can get a better feel for the quality, at least sometimes.
And as a final note, we've been here before. Shipping-focused shopping existed already with the old Sears catalog, which dominated once upon a time before fading as well. I always wondered why that was, and if there are any parallels to today. Or if maybe the advances in modern telecommunications make for a completely different ballgame.
Really interesting. Yeah, apparently there was even last-mile delivery type stuff back then, where you could have stores deliver to town in hours. The cost of the free returns also feels like one of those things that will eventually get passed on to the consumer (more than it probably already is). The whole idea of the physical stores also serving as warehouses is super interesting and not talked about nearly enough in the popular-press stuff about retail.
For my own case, I find a lot of value in being able to see an item in person before I buy it, although I guess I'm a bit of an oddball in that regard. Of course, it depends on the item. Clothing definitely needs to be in-person, but consumer electronics much less so.
That being said, I think there's also something to be said for these superstores having the advantage of being able to use their stores both as showrooms and distribution hubs. Amazon definitely got the jump on a shipping-focused logistics network, but now a lot of larger format stores have gotten better at digitizing their inventories and using their stores as warehouses as well. Just warehouses that you can also walk around in and shop from directly. It may not be quite as efficient as Amazon and its giant robot warehouses, but I feel like that's more marginal than we give it credit for.
Also, I feel like Amazon has had more of a legitimacy crisis these days, with a lot of the stuff you can purchase on there being of questionable quality. It may be convenient up front, but having to return stuff all the time is such a drag. At least in-person shopping tends to be from established brands and you can get a better feel for the quality, at least sometimes.
And as a final note, we've been here before. Shipping-focused shopping existed already with the old Sears catalog, which dominated once upon a time before fading as well. I always wondered why that was, and if there are any parallels to today. Or if maybe the advances in modern telecommunications make for a completely different ballgame.
Really interesting. Yeah, apparently there was even last-mile delivery type stuff back then, where you could have stores deliver to town in hours. The cost of the free returns also feels like one of those things that will eventually get passed on to the consumer (more than it probably already is). The whole idea of the physical stores also serving as warehouses is super interesting and not talked about nearly enough in the popular-press stuff about retail.