Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

You have provided nothing here to demonstrate how Amazon save money to make money.

All of it points to spending shit load of money to make even more money.

I think you are fighting a loosing battle on the cost cutting thing.

https://www.snapagency.com/blog/7-reasons-why-amazon-is-so-successful

Execution.

Apparently discounted pricing comes from excellent vendor relationships. Well well. Who would have thought.

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

Auspost want to hope they deliver, since failure will be an expensive downfall.

Not only do I expect they have a tight SLA with serious penalty clauses, failure will mean Amazon go all out on their own logistics and fulfillment operation, which will show up the failure that is auspost and hasten their end.

I could say lots of negative things about Amazon, but I sure as hell wouldn't expect them to take aussie failure quietly.

The idea that local logistics could consider them a joke and fail to deliver is like poking a Rottweiler with a stick.

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

Strange in a sort of way that Startrack ( 50% Aust.Post ) have been doing deliveries on Sundays for the last two years.
I,ve had two this month.
I presume they employ sub contractors .

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

They are independent Contracters working for below the minimum wage.... Massively high staff turnover as they all find other employment once their English improves.


Amazon has been doing trial dummy deliveries with core Australia Post whilst I've been on holiday for the past two weeks.

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

It looks very like the 'soft launch' of Amazon last Thursday demonstrated some real issues with Amazon Australia, delaying the real launch. Talk is of issues with the web system and it's population, but it could also be an issue with auspost performance.

Still no sign of the real system going live, and it's December tomorrow ...

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

We're told it's the software and catalogue side of things. Web System and Population in tech speak jargon I guess.


AFAIK Aus Post is getting the items out 100pct on time easily thus far. Certainly in the Northern 'burbs.


Where will Amazon eventually get it's own "Trustworthy" drivers from. ? I'd say they would have to recruit people that have never done worked as couriers before personally. Otherwise the current cancer that pervades the courier and van delivery here will spread. Otherwise, they are stuck with Aus Post core delivery. AKA Posties.

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

Reading between the lines, of the little there is in the news media, it sounds like the third party merchants have screwed up the population of the items for sale. There are certainly references to it being 'different than ebay' :huh: and 'things not appearing'. Given that the Amazon baseline software works fine everywhere else, and Amazon are hardly newbies at cloud servers - it sounds like the merchants screwed up the tagging and labeling, meaning that you didn't get one product and multiple sellers, but multiply differently labelled same products as local muppets tried to avoid price comparison.

I'd hope so, they aren't actually selling anything yet ....

It will be interesting to see. On the one hand auspost might raise their game to mediocre, but on the other hand I sent a Christmas card from Melbourne to Adelaide last Thursday, and it's still not there ...

There are other models that Amazon could use, even one's they have pursued elsewhere (eg https://flex.amazon.com/ ). But for the Christmas time, they are reliant on auspost meeting their contractual obligations.

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

Plus it's only one dummy round per facility, so fairly easy to get right.


We've been told to do the Amazon bags first, Thats above express and even Platinum express, So as long as they arrive easily identifiable amongst the other 100's of bags "She should be right" and so far so good. Hopefully, Dandenong keeps them separately in their own cages. I doubt they'll be separated in a years time though..... Always reverts back to the norm, which could mean shifting dozens of bags our end to get the odd one here and there, which is bound to fail eventually.

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

Special package: Shocking moment Amazon worker poos in customer's driveway - NZ Herald

Amazon will need to consider consequences of dealing with third party contractors.

Shit happens

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

Well Amazon have finally launched .... although they haven't really.

Basically all you find for most products is the 3rd party offerings, which are from the same Australian stores that have been ripping you off for years.

None of the usual Amazon goodies, and if they do offer free postage, it's on over $50.

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

Totally underwhelming.

Can't see the point of launching that.

Will still have to import goods for the time I guess.

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

Meanwhile and I just opened BE for this exact reason, I just have had the most unusual delivery experience. I ordered from the UK Camping World in Aldershot on the 27/11 a package that is one meter long, it's actually a drive away awning attachment. I was expecting to wait a few weeks for this as it has cost me a relatively cheap 44 bucks in total for this 1-meter long package to arrive just now, delivered by Aus Posts subsidiary star track.... It's obviously been fast-tracked through customs and missed that bottleneck Not sure how or why. The clue may be in it was handled by Parcel Force in the UK, so maybe Customs don't scrutinise in bulk Parcel Forces items.

Try lodging fast-tracked parcels to Australia via Parcel force in other words.

https://thumbsnap.com/s/JEbQw4op.jpg

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

That's interesting. I had a parcel sent from the UK (Royal Mail) on the 28th, quickly left the UK the next day, then disappeared into the system. Has recently been marked as in Melbourne (4th), and thus hopefully will get delivered soon.

Maybe customs have stopped getting in the way for Christmas ?

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

Tonnes of reports that Amazon (Australia) aren't beating the prices of the local bricks and mortar retailers. This is not surprising. (as I have mentioned before).

They want to hope speed and convenience is going to give the consumers what they want.

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

Not surprising because they hardly have any products on the website.....yet.

The electronic products I've looked at are all from the third party local companies; and yes, expensive.

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

Seeing as Aus Post will be delivering Amazon and Shipster, and Shipster is Aus Posts baby that they make good coin out of, guess which one when push comes to shove will be fastest :)


https://auspost.com.au/shipster

Amazon will be competing with the likes of MSY on computer related items here, good luck taking on the Taiwanese Amazon ;)

Here's a reference point for them.

https://www.msy.com.au/Parts/PARTS.pdf

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

Yeah maybe, I assumed that the Parcel Force batches would be smaller so easier to handle, hence the speed. Could be that Customs have lowered their scrutiny standards for a while.

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

Got some Lego for the lass, cheaper than the shops (by around 15-20%) and free delivery:thumbsup:

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

I'm wondering if places like Officeworks, Bunnings, Harvey Norman, Chemist Warehouse and in your case Toys R Us will price match Amazon online.

I reckon Officeworks, Bunnings, and ChemistWarehouse will give it a go. Anaconda may as well.

eg: Out shopping in one of the above stores, see something you may purchase, straight onto the Amazon website to see if they have a price for it and take it up with the retailer if they don't price match they are gone!

Can confirm Officeworks are already doing it, according to the people on Whirlpool.

Price matching is an ingrained part of the Aussie retail landscape, not so sure they do it as readily overseas?

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

Just arrived at work and it turns out our Amazon delivery didn't arrive out our depot this morning. EG It failed.

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

I have done this with Bing Lee a lot lately on lots of expensive electronics and whitegoods. No problem. They will beat any online retailer to get your business.

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

There is also the issue of range.

In general the range of goods carried in a shop is significantly lower than that by someone like Amazon. So, for instance, if wanted to buy a Yamaha AV amp, I'll find one model in their range in shops like HN or the Good Guys. And it'll be overpriced. If you have a working Amazon offering, you'll have all of the range, and there will be real competition pushing the price down.

What I particularly noticed was that 'christmas lists' ended up being defined in terms of Amazon links - since for anything you wanted, you could find it there, and if the price weren't always the lowest it would at least be within touching distance. Amazon took over from Argos as the core starting point.

My guess is that eventually the same will happen here. 'Bricks and Mortar' stores won't be the core starting point, they are local fulfillment, for a subset of the range. If I were them, that's what I'd be concentrating on.

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

The core starting point is a google search.

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

the wider the range the higher the holding cost.

Alot of rationalisation taking place in grocery. Why 200 varieties of salt?

Plain simple packaging with easier read details online.
- reduced cost of packaging
- increased recycling ability

Convenience in time (certainity) is what customers are seeking. Price expectations is lower. But other factors such as sourcing transparency and treatment of staff.

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

Yes and yes. There it is.

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

You are half right.

If you are a bricks and mortar store, the more the range, the more the issue with costs and how long it stays on the shelf.

However, companies want to differentiate their offerings (lots of price points) and want to offer lots of SKU so they can push other competing offerings off the shelf. They might say that the store gets a discount if it offers the complete range, etc.

Upshot is, it's never as simple as "why 200 varieties of salt?

However, aussie stores do have a bad reputation for carrying only a small fraction of the total possible range, and it's not because the stores are small. It's more to do with their terrible grasp of logistics and understanding what the customer wants.

I've no doubt, once Jeff has shot the individual responsible for screwing up the Amazon launch, they will eventually get the usual Amazon product range up and running - and that will cut the legs from underneath complacent aussie retail.

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

Garry, you are overlooking the fact that Australian retailers are "world class".

As they are in all walks of life.

Well, that's what they tell themselves.

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

Ever heard of a soft launch?Testing the systems, no stock at present, ensuring they won't be inundated.

According to Amazon it was record breaking launch. No figures given but the marketing line should keep the momentum going, despite the very lacking inventory.

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

Are any of the aussie retailers actually world class? I really can't think of a one that I'd say was up there with the best, in any domain.

Problem is, they are too insular, and too lacking in competition. The country is only really big enough for one player in each segment, so whom ever gets to scale first, wins. Other countries, particularly those with larger populations and smaller distances, can sustain two or three competing chains in each segment, developing and honing offerings - or at least they could till online providers came in an beat up their business models.

So who is going to keep Amazon on their toes?

There are certainly fault lines in the Amazon offering, and there's the likes of AliExpress, but who's there ready and waiting to clean up with Amazon screws up like they did this week?

I can kind of see the characteristics of the next big thing, but for the moment it's still fuzzy.

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

No parcels turned up from Amazon Aus Yesterday in Melbourne's inner North.


So if it was record-breaking, we should be expecting a very busy night.

Looks like I should be heading off to work in 10 mins or so in trepidation. I'll warn my colleagues. :eek::blink::fingerscrossed::thumbsup:


In fact I should know within the hour.


Yehp coming with the express mail circa 4AM

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

:lol::sneaky:

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

Whadddabout Dan Murphy's??? :)

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

As Garry was saying:sneaky:

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

https://www.bentleys.com.au/knowledg...zon-australia/


May be of interest ?

Amazon will always be as weak as its supply chain partners.

When investors see it will not be dominate in all FMCG their commitment will drop. Then the big issue for them will be funding the churn.

Here rises the biggest opportunity to provide better convenience and real time experience and customer service.

You don't get exceptional outcomes from mediocre inputs (staff to customer experience).

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

Not the best understanding of the market. For instance, much of the reason Amazon tries not to make a profit is it will be taxed. Better to keep feeding the money to growing the business, or adjacent businesses. If you want to go out and spend $13.7bn on a grocery chain, you can get a loan to cover it, and set the payments against tax.

A lot of it seems to be wishful thinking, not borne out by the evidence in other countries. Realistically the story is told by a graph

http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/defau...online.jpg.jpg

I do wonder. At some point that might not be true - they have certainly not be backward in putting their name on devices.

Part of my wandering previous post is thinking on what replaces Amazon. And that line of thought was started by realising Amazon is a web company, and web is yesterday's news.

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

Didn't you read the press. Australia is not the US.

Its how the Australian consumer works. Its all in this link.

https://thingsboganslike.com/2011/02/07/212-buying-australian-made/

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

That article echo's many of the thoughts from those who have greater knowledge in retail than yourself.

Dismissing it as "not the best understanding of the market" is foolish at best.

You are still bleating on about cost as the only factor. We all know convenience, speed and user experience kills costs every time, providing the cost difference is minimal. We know bricks and mortar compete on cost, not sure why you refuse the quick and easy google search to prove it for yourself.

Its also ok to say "I got it wrong" sometimes.

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

Ahem.

Go on, give it a go.

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

I did it with Clive Peeters back when they were a thing, about 7 years ago I think. They happily price matched a $800 camera with an online site out of Hong Kong.

Re: Amazon incoming ...
 

Were they also helpful in buying houses for their staff.