This is a 0% shock to me.
Even less of a shock after their “Grab and walk out technology” was exposed to be nothing more then low paid workers in 3rd world countries watching the video and pressing buttons (Re Amazon Go)
This is not Amazon’s first failure into the physical retail world, it will not be it’s last. And it is no reflection on the retail market in general. Amazon simply does not have the skill set to run a physical store.
And this
failed to deliver the right economic model and distinctive customer experience necessary for large-scale expansion
So they still can’t get AI trained enough to displace and scale beyond 1000 humans in India?
Yeah, AI is so “powerful”.
Let’s not forget, that Amazon is expanding the ability to pick up food products outside of the Whole Foods selection at Whole Foods locations.
I wonder if Amazon’s big box locations will be like a Costco with 10x the number of SKUs. If it is, we will be able to witness another Amazon B&M failure. After all, the US market does need another Costco, so Amazon Big Box will need some purported advantage. Will it be bigger, faster or cheaper?
I’d love to be able to will call at an Amazon warehouse.
More Amazon related cuts
so I saw this one and it almost like this same headline is made every Jan when they lay off seasonal workers but maybe this time not?
Well at least when they hire someone in India my electric bill does not go up.
My last “real” job before retiring to help Nisha run the business was as a wine rep selling to stores. Whole Foods was one of my bigger clients when they were bought by Amazon. Anything I say to quote the wine manager as to how things went would be censored by the Discord bots.
Nisha, please say it anyway, self-censoring, as needed. Some of us are quite interested in what you have to say about your former industry.
Please note, Whole Foods and NO other grocery stores can sell wine and liquor in New York State, only beer. We have wierd laws here.
Years ago, I was buying a few bottles of VO for the DH in Arizona, at a supermarket, on a Sunday morning, at a very good price. I was told I could not buy them before noon on a Sunday, so I had to leave them behind at the cash register.
Such stupid laws we have!
I mean I say fire away!
nor does it take a metric load of water being evaporated or single pass through for cooling
Actually, this was in NYC. Columbus Ave.
Yes, the NY laws are weird. But thanks to the 21st Amendment, pretty much ALL state laws regarding alcohol sales are weird.
In NY, you can have ONE store per owner; so Whole Foods (or Trader Joes; or anyone else) can have only one store in the whole state. And there are very strict rules on what can be sold in those stores. So WF, or TJs, or any similar store, has a liquor store next to their main store; separate entrance, separate check-out, maybe different hours, etc. And they sell wine and spirits; beer is in the main store (or the bodega next door). The NY rules are weird enough, and the state big enough, that special products are made just so they can be sold in the liquor stores, such as adding .5% alcohol to a sour mix so that it qualifies; otherwise, can be sold only in a grocery store. (there is a list of non-alcohol items that can be sold in a liquor store; it’s only 12 things. I can’t remember all, but corkscrew and bottle opener are two separate items. I think wine specific magazines are also allowed)
A wine store can sell sparkling water; but not still water (or is it the other way around? Too illogical to keep track).
But back to topic; the specific words were pretty much all profanities. But related to the fact that Amazon thought that everything should adhere to one set of rules, period; local managers make only limited decisions, most things have to go through corporate. This might work fine for a company selling nationwide, but breaks down when you get to regional differences. And with the wine/liquor business, it’s even more severe. Just within NYC, I had clients near the financial district, Lower East Side, near the UN, and UWS, plus Washington Heights, Inwood, and others. Just within walking distance, the markets were VERY different.
Prior to working the distributor side of the business, I worked retail. It was quite common to taste a wine, and know exactly which customers would be interested. So sometimes we would get only one or two cases, because there are 4 customers who would want it, and two of those will buy it only once. That type of thought is simply not allowed by Amazon rules.
Yes, I loved the laws in Arizona (other than the early cut-off hours; rough when you work a late shift).
Aisle 1 at Safeway was Produce, nuts, and vodka. But I bought my Tequila at Walgreens. None of this “you have to go to a special store” BS that almost every other state has.
But at least NY is not like VA or NC, where the liquor (not wine or beer, just spirits) is sold directly by the state. So virtually no selection; you only get the brands that kick back enough to the “good’ol boy” network entrenched in the government.
The liquor laws in most northern states were written to guarantee graft. And the variations are many between states.
Massachusetts limits the number of liquor licenses a single individual or corporation may have. Creating issues for supermarkets and big box stores. It also limits wholesale licenses, This can create real issues for companies like Costco who have unique wine products which are not carried by wholesalers. and of course the work arounds for the restrictions require the help of local “experts”.
NH and MA have state liquor stores but beer and wine are legal in all of the supermarkets. Maine has independent liquor stores as well as state stores but all of the independents must by from a single wholesale distributor, which is a subsidiary of a large liquor store in Boston.
The selection at the NH State stores on I-95 is sufficient for this New Yorker and many others I know to fill their trunks on the way back from Maine.