I think the customer is going to lose, eventually. I was chatting with a worker at WFM and they mentioned that WFM sends out inspectors to farms / suppliers to make sure things are up to high standards.<p>Now compare that with Amazon, who co-mingles inventory and can't even guarantee what I purchased was authentic.<p>Also, will I pay more for Kale after reading a book on food nutrition? Will I have to put the food in the basket to know what the price is?<p>I see two very different cultures. Time well tell, I guess.
Although it goes without saying that this is huge news, I have my concerns that the response was near-universal unbridled optimism.<p>I'm a little interested in hearing how else this may play out in the spirit of "fearful when greedy, greedy when fearful" and welcome any contrarians to (respectfully) share their thoughts.<p>As a side note: I've found the various armchair M&A proposals triggered by this rather amusing. Just this weekend I heard various people earnestly suggest that:<p>1. Wal-Mart purchases Rackspace and RIM<p>2. Google purchases Costco and Disney<p>3. Apple purchases Netflix and Target
I am happy about this acquisition at least for deliveries. I've used Instacart extensively and they don't seem honest at all. Prices/fees are not transparent, I don't know who I'm tipping and how much of the tip the person actually gets and in the end I don't even get my groceries correctly.
The article didn't mention the biggest loser, viz the consumer.<p>Amazon has already said they want to cut costs. I can't wait until they adopt their typical stocking practices, like they do with so much other stuff they sell. E.g. you'll have normal merchandise commingled on shelves side-by-side with third party supplied garbage. Much like they already do for DVDs and similar items, stocking genuine commingled with counterfeit. But don't worry, it'll all still be "fulfilled by Whole Foods".<p>That's a little hyperbolic. But I just don't see any positives at all for current Whole Foods customers.<p>Whole Foods most important asset is their reputation, which IMO is way way way above Amazon's reputation.
I am still unconvinced it was a good move. Both European discount grocery chains are in the US now, Aldi and Lidl. Aldi has had a presence here already and Lidl is now coming in strong. The traditional grocery store chains are all challenged by these foreign discounters who can even undercut Wal Mart grocery at times; though Wal Mart does carry name brands as well.<p>Gourmet and similar grocery stores operate on the fringe but how much disposable income is out there to keep them all going? Do they really compete with Kroger and the like? To me its like comparing Costco to WalMart. Sure they had similar items but they have wildly different customer bases and income levels.
Oddly Amazon has been forced to collect a sales tax in some states. So buying a retail company would be in their best interests to have a place to sell to locals.<p>Walmart and others complained about Amazon stealing customers and had the states crack down on them for state sales tax.<p>In my area near Ferguson and Hazelwood Missouri Amazon plans a wharehouse. They should buy out Sears and K-Mart because they are closing down stores near us that Amazon can use as shops to ship packages to from their warehouse to compete with Walmart, Costco, and Sam's Club.
I'm wondering if there is a limit to economies of scale. Is there some point where it doesn't matter cost-wise to produce N+1 instead of N?<p>Will Amazon gobble up the rest of the world and bring the economy to a halt?