Utopia Talk / Politics / Amazon buys Whole foods

Im better then you 2012 UP Football Champ	Fri Jun 16 12:39:44 The purchase requires approval from federal regulators (assuming they still exist) but Jeff Bezos just got a bunch richer. http://www...n-buys-whole-foods-deal-239633
murder Member	Sat Jun 17 13:46:38 I can't figure out why Amazon wants it. I don't see how it adds value.
jergul large member	Sat Jun 17 14:16:40 murder The article outlines possible benefits. Drone landing pads seems to catch the gist.
murder Member	Sat Jun 17 17:02:55 That drone delivery thing is nonsense. The first time one of those things crashes down on someone, it's over.
jergul large member	Sat Jun 17 17:31:40 Murder Its a curb to door solution. If we assume driverless vehicles are feasible, then Amazon is still missing the vehicle to get the delivery to its drop-off location at the door.
hood Member	Sat Jun 17 17:35:48 Amazon has been trying this "checkout-less grocery store" thing where you can go gather your groceries and just walk out, and you will be charged via your card on amazon. I would assume buying whole foods is an expansion of this. That or they're looking to expand their amazon food offerings. What better way to make it easier to deliver perishables than to have a stock of them at a grocery store nearby? Or just groceries in general.
obaminated Member	Sat Jun 17 20:12:16 Grocery delivery is already a thing and it is a delight.
State Department Member	Sat Jun 17 23:06:14 Now we can have our $6/lb pre-peeled oranges delivered by drone.
obaminated Member	Sat Jun 17 23:07:57 Nah, but skinned and deboned chicken thighs are great
Aeros Member	Sun Jun 18 00:31:27 I expect they bought whole foods because they want to learn the grocery market. Its been onenof Amazons major initiatives for awhile. Thing is I dont think it will work. Kroger already has online ordering via clicklist. When it comes to cheap, they are up against Aldi and Wal Mart. Food is a very different kettle of fish to books and electronics. With a few exceptions, most people like to see and touch what they are buying before they buy it. The Whole Foods brand is this on steroids. Suburban yuppies who want their gluten free organic bread and locally sourced pre-peeled carrots. Kroger and Wegmans in particular are going to be serious competition in this particular market. And both have serious cash on hand to go to the mat if they realize Amazon wants to try and muscle in on their turf. Cash that is going to be thrown at washington DC as much as at competing. The panic stock selling of their shares due to this annoucement has almost certainly rattled the cage.
Seb Member	Sun Jun 18 03:02:04 Murder/jergul Ah, there's very good logic to it. Google Simon Wardley, he makes some good arguments as to what Amazon is up to. He's been predicting they'd go after supermarkets for ages.
Nimatzo iChihuaha	Sun Jun 18 16:52:48 "That airplane thing is nonsense. The first time one of those things crashes and kills people, it's over." -murder to the Wrights brothers
Nimatzo iChihuaha	Sun Jun 18 16:55:28 Amazon has been trying this "checkout-less grocery store" We have had this in Sweden for many many years. You grab a scanner, scan your shit, pay and go.
obaminated Member	Sun Jun 18 17:05:26 No one ever accused murder of being innovative.
Daemon Member	Sun Jun 18 23:07:58 "You grab a scanner, scan your shit, pay and go. " The Amazon Go store wants to eliminate the need for a customer to scan things ... if it will ever work: http://www...p-delayed-camera-sensor-people Specifically, the new shop can’t handle tracking more than about 20 people at the same time, and freaks out “if an item has been moved from its specific spot on the shelf” the paper writes, citing un-named sources. It’s an ignominious start for what was supposed to be the future of the grocery store. The idea behind Amazon Go is that a highly connected grocery store, with enough cameras tracking every item and visitor, can operate without tills at all. Individuals are authenticated through their smartphones and their movement throughout the shop, and interaction with products, are tracked with a plethora of cameras.
Seb Member	Mon Jun 19 13:54:54 You got this the wrong way around guys. This isn't about what Amazon can bring to for groceries. Whole foods is the guaranteed demand to allow Amazon to develop a service oriented architecture service catalogue for persihables logistics. Whole foods become the equivalent of Amazons e-commerce for AWS or the online bookstore for your fulfillment centres. Then they expose those services to others (other supermarkets, other perishable goods, wholesale - sell to restaurants). They've been trying to get into this before: drones, fresh, dash etc. But they fail because unlike before they've not had a customer of those services at scale; and a perishables logistic network doesn't work without scale - unsold food perishes.
Seb Member	Mon Jun 19 13:58:13 In the end, Amazon isn't going to necessarily compete with supermarkets. It's going to reduce them to the same status as 3rd party suppliers on Amazons online store. And take a huge cut from the food retail market (both groceries and restaurants).
Seb Member	Mon Jun 19 14:17:00 The thing to understand about Amazon is that it doesn't aim to compete within an industry, it aims to capture industries, disrupt them, and reorganise them around itself and extract a rent. It's a platform business model, not a pipe business model - as someone whose name I forget puts it
Seb Member	Mon Jun 19 14:20:39 *rent is perhaps unfair. They do provide significant customer value and the low margins show they are not (yet?) that exploitative. How we regulate platform business models is a fascinating question, where customer value genuinely comes with monopoly level market shares through network effects. I just turned down a job thinking about that, bit whistful about it. Oh well.
Neverwoods Member	Tue Jun 20 09:32:07 I think they are after supermarkets shares. From what I have read 2 years ago, was they where experimenting with staff-less stores. People being tracked digitally, anything being picked up counted for in some odd way. Kinda Go-n-leave without any cashiers. Oh yeah they did some kind of promo too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrmMk1Myrxc
Neverwoods Member	Tue Jun 20 09:46:09 That or technology licensing deals, to other supermarkets. That would be worth a lot.
Seb Member	Tue Jun 20 11:34:17 Messing around with that tech is an interesting side project, but you already have stores where most checkout is self service. Reducing the staff component a bit further is pointless. Think the reverse though - let's say their strategy is to build a service oriented architecture stack for perishables logistics. One way to expose that to retail market would be to minimally convert their fulfillment centres into cash and carries using that tech. The fact they bought whole foods is a recognition that approach wasn't going to work. Whole foods is being bought to be the customer of their real money spinner to let them get to scale. Not tech licensing deal - service provision. They'll do your logistics.
Neverwoods Member	Tue Jun 20 12:01:22 That sounds likely too. Amazon is creeping into more areas, they might have a bigger and grander plan to tie everything into one and create a eco-system which traps people in.
jergul large member	Tue Jun 20 14:28:19 Yah, I spend enough time in NA (am typing from there as we speak) to justify a prime membership (which is worthless in Norway). I would be pretty much locked in if durable goods had been an issue. Amazon is very convenient and has nice pricing.
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