How Amazon Will Kill Your Local Grocer
 

Amazon's done it to books. And electronics. And clothing. Now it wants to rule the grocery aisles.

But Amazon still has a ways to go -- the online retailing behemoth has taken a slow, yet calculated approach to attacking the grocery store. After years of testing the AmazonFresh program in its Seattle hometown, it began expanding the grocery delivery service to other cities in 2013. Today, it delivers fresh fruit and meat in parts of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, California, Washington and Maryland. It also delivers food through its Amazon.com website and its Prime Now program.

And even though research from Cowen & Co. pegs Amazon's market share of food and beverages sold online in 2015 at about 22 percent, that overall online grocery market in the U.S. is pretty small. Out of the $795 billion dollars Cowen expects Americans to spend on food and drinks this year, it estimates only about $33 billion of it will be spent online

$33 billion

That's because it has taken shoppers a long time to grow comfortable with buying their apples, chicken breasts and granola online when they can stop by a physical store on the way home from work and actually touch and smell the food they're buying. Companies struggle to profit from the very expensive business of picking, packing and transporting fresh food to their customers. It's much easier to mail a video game or book, which doesn't have to be kept cold or free of bruises.

But for Amazon, the grocery business not only brings more sales, it could also make its business more profitable. People tend to buy groceries weekly or daily, so getting them hooked on delivery justifies sending trucks out more frequently. Then any general merchandise, like a book or toy, that Amazon sells along with the food adds to profits. And since Amazon will need more trucks for grocery delivery, it could reduce its reliance on shipping companies, which have contributed to soaring costs. For now, Amazon is likely to take added grocery costs on the chin, in hopes it will pay off down the line.

Growing its AmazonFresh and Prime Now offerings suggest Amazon is gearing up for the long haul in grocery. Though traditional grocers are not likely to see sales migrate to Amazon right away, that luxury won't last. And just like bookstores, your local grocer could be toast.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/a...120201075.html

Good
 

Just in time if you ask me...

http://49.media.tumblr.com/80ea15fa6...g4boo1_500.gif

can't pick up a soccer mom at amazon. i'll pass.

walmart already did that.. So fucking what. It's 2016 and people don't go to mom and pop shops when they can get everything cheaper online or at Wally World :2 cents:

Some still do. Around here there are still a few mom and pop grocery stores. There's no where more aggravating to go than Wal Mart, it's worth a few extra dollars to not have to deal with it. I can go to a store that's much easier to get to, don't have to spend long parking, don't have a huge parking lot to walk through, not a giant store where I have to walk 10 miles around everybody to get what I need, and finally if I ever have to wait for a cashier it's not even a minute and even then it's not often that I do. I'll gladly pay extra for the better shopping experience.

amazon is going to do like safeway. deliver fresh groceries to your home. i do safeway sometimes :) you can order anything they have in the store!

most people aren't anti-social autistic retards like your average gfy poster. some people just like to go out shopping, look around and be around other people on their time off.

All grocery stores suck in one way or another. People there suck. I certainly don't go to socialize.

dont care who to buy it from as long as it's real organic food and not plastic GMO garbage

i always go for quality above everything else

I'm glad you're enjoying it that much, I'm not. Over here I really don't want to be around 85% of the people I encounter due to retarded/fake/selfish personalities. There's a few diamonds but rest yuck!

Thanks for grocery store death news update.

I go to the grocery store late as fuck as crowds suck ass. I tried to order once online from somewhere else and picking shit out was boring as shit so said fuck it and closed it up. Maybe someday I'll try it. Convenience is nice but think were turning into never leave your house, do everything online and get fat. :2 cents:

I could not agree with you more! This country has gone to the dogs. No one has any manners and they only think of themselves.

I blame social media for giving every idiot the ability to post any shit that enters their vacant skull online like they really have something of value to say. They don't... :thumbsup

I am not 100% sure.

I can see bulk food such as large bags of dogfood (I order on amazon simply for ease due to size).

But often people pop to the shops for food as they need it that moment (such as milk).

What will be interesting, is will Amazon affect such as car sales?

If people shop less (going to shops), will some not bother with cars?

I find that now I have a car for (1) walking the dogs , and (2) doing photo shoots. I used to use the car to go to shops, but now I order on Amazon.

I have had people tell me they no longer have a car as they simply no longer need one.

It could be a nock on affect of such as Amazon is the reduction of cars or at least car use.

In the UK most supermarkets have been delivering food online for many years.

You see the small vans all the time on UK roads from supermarkets.

Amazon this year teamed up with Morrisons.

I order specialty food from Amazon that I can't find at the store, but I don't see Amazon killing local grocers. Who the hell is going to order cold drinks or fresh meats through the mail?? I buy fresh local food almost daily. And you can't beat a farmer's market for organic non-gmo foods.

It could work well for branded and generic foods.
Can of corn, bag of noodles -- things of predictable quality and quantity.

Produce and fresh meat I like to hand select -- most people do?

On the other hand, I have bought some clothing, shoes and other items you would normally hand select from Amazon and have been 80% satisfied with what I received. So, groceries may work so long as the quality control Amazon puts in place is good.

Time is money :2 cents:

amazon will hurt, not destroy, retail grocery...stuff in boxes like cereal, yeah... but produce, meat, dairy? no. People can be real fickle about freshness & getting to see what they're buying. 1 bad dairy delivery & the customer is gone.

amazon will need to own a grocery chain, basically. or sub-contract distribution out to one.

:2 cents:

:thumbsup

Although a big portion of them are, that portion is certainly big enough to kill some of the stores.

Nothing will replace the in-store/in-person shopping experience.


http://funniest-place.com/wp-content...-people-55.jpg

The sights, the sounds, the smells...the drips.

And we've seen this cycle before right?

Quality control' service etc. will be excellent until they get market share, then very slowly, greed kicks in, corners are cut as is quality, things weigh less than stated, produce is older than stated etc. Then people migrate to an Amazon competitor or shopping in person goes back in style.

that's his mother :helpme:helpme and the incest cycle begins

good for staples and specialty items. other stuff not so much.

just another step forward in their plan to turn the world into a robotic dystopian hellhole.

how do you know?

Brasshat clearly thought this news clipping was about the literal murder of a grocer, that's why he posted this :1orglaugh

Death thread fail :1orglaugh

As usual he's working on an assumption based on, well...nothing.

Makes me wonder why he leaped to the incest conclusion right away.

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

It puts more people out of a job, increases benefits, reduces taxes and will only have one winner. Amazon.

Why am I not surprised?

I love going to the malls. We take the dogs and are well known, people come up to us to pet the dog or just smile.

Given hear in Czech we don't have the retard situation that puts so many Americans off. Maybe I would prefer staying at home if there was a chance of meeting some of the people I meet here. :1orglaugh