I read that article, and there was a single ,critical statement the author made that is either disingenuous,or just plain stupid. He said, "Most of what Amazon does right has nothing at all to do with technology or the Internet."
Uh, after he has spent four and a half of five pages running down Best Buy, he states that he is "not shilling for Amazon", and then drops that load of bull$h!= on us. Let's parse that sentence: "Most of what Amazon does right has nothing at all to do with technology or the Internet."
WRONG. Almost ALL of what Amazon does right, it can do because it is an internet retailer. Amazon came into existence because OF THE WEB. Amazon is an internet-based retailer. Amazon maintains no physical brick and mortar stores. Oh, sure they have some offices and server farms, but those are peanuts. Best Buy has to maintain thousands of retail outlets across the entire UNited States, and has apparently entered Europe and China. Building, equipping then maintaining large buildings costs from thousands to up to tens of thousands of dollars every season on lighting, heating, or air-conditioning---per building! According to BestBuy's corporate FAQ located at
Frequently Asked Questions - Investor Relations - Best Buy Co., Inc., BestBuy operates and maintains over 4,100 stores. Not to mention staffing costs, janitorial,etc. Property tax,you get the idea.
Amazon on the other hand, does not maintain actual stores; contrary to author numbnuts's contention, almost EVERYTHING Amazon does well, it does because of the internet. Early on, in 1999, Amazon bought the
Internet Movie Database (IMDb).They bought dPreview for Chrissakes--the world's leader in digital camera and digital photography discussion and review--bought in 2007 by Amazon. In 2008, they swallowed up Audible.com. The worlds BEST on-line shoe company, Zappos, was swallowed up by Amazon in 2009; Amazon can easily morp into whatever it wishes to be by buying new, internet-based sources of propaganda,advertising,and retailing. Buy the sources of information, and use them to funnel people to your wares. Amazon.
As was stated in the story, Best Buy (and Ritz Camera, Kits Camera, etc.,etc) serve as the "showroom" where unscrupulous customers go to get hands-on feel for products, then spin on their heels, walk out, head home, and order on-line not really "FROM" Amazon, but through the internet-connected network that "is" Amazon. Amazon is kind of like a sea louse or a leech,one might say. A blood-sucker, as it were. Amazon's no-hassle returns and no-fee restocking are made possible by their exceedingly low fixed costs; they are like a big,giant drop-shipping importer. Instead of sales people who they need to train and pay, they just make available on-line information and reviews; they allow customers to post on-line testimonials and reviews, which is a great way to convince people to buy complex products--by making available 10,15,20,or even 100 "reviews" made by "Customers". What Amazon does right is made possible entirely by their unusual status as a huge,huge "Clearinghouse" for orders and information. Amazon will become partners with almost any company that will shill for them, and which will put a link on their blog or web site, to refer potential internet-based viewers to another internet-based "portal".
The article is interesting in how the article under discussion demeans and runs down Best Buy. But the idea that Amazon's best practices are not due to the internet is a stupid comment; their ENTIRE business model is predicated on using the internet to funnel customers to a "portal". Not 4,100 stores with real merchandise, but a list of trusted associated brick and mortar retailers who have the items in-stock.As well as "some" directly-controlled Amazon stuff. Their ownership of dPreview is a pretty good example of a way to funnel customers to the mothership.
I do not work for BestBuy, and never have. That the store is in trouble in the face of Amazon becoming the biggest retailer in the USA is not surprising. The days of buying consumer electronics and such from a big box store are probably numbered. Amazon will take back previously viewed DVD's because they have established themselves as a place to go and BUY USED DVD's. Amazon is both a new-merchandise AND a used-merchandise vendor, which is something the author of the article failed to mention. The author's statement that customers would expect that the in-store and on-line experiences and stock and coupon promotion offers would be "identical" between brick and mortar and internet stores is also another bit of loony logic, but that's another story. Still, it was fun to read a story where a guy who was not shilling for Amazon completely ragged on a brick and mortar company for not being just like Amazon. It was a nice hatchet piece on Best Buy, but the Amazon stuff was based upon several really dubious assumptions. I think I can recognize a hatchet job when I see one.
