AIBU to please ask you not to plough even more money into Amazon over this lockdown?

[schitter]

I know, it's cheap and easy.
I know you probably need to find the lowest price you can.
I know it being delivered straight to your door is win win on non essential trips out.

But pleeeasssssse let's not make the richest man in the world any richer than he is already if you have any other option.
Even shopping online with the big high street retailers is better than lining JBs pockets.
Look at those little individual eBay shops that'll no doubt have exactly what you're looking for and you only have to wait a couple of days extra, it's not the end of the world.

Please look around you, please look what else is available.
Lots of your local shops have diversified into offering home delivery because their livelihoods depend on it.

My livelihood depends on it! My little business did 3% (yes, three percent) of its usual sales in April. I permanently laid off 4 staff and haven't made a penny personally since.
I feel sick at the thought.

I try to buy from smaller companies but get let down by:

• logistics
• price
• lack of choice

A friend was whinging about people buying off amazon etc.she has a website selling products. The products are various brands sold widely elsewhere. She does not design, make, adapt etc any product herself. She just wants to turn a profit buying stuff and selling it on for 5% more. I I don't see how she is anything more than a middleman. At least amazon offer something, their huge scale and logistics mean that the customer gets a better service at the end of the day.

The human race is not obliged to keep inefficient businesses alive. Really successful business will find something they can offer that amazon can't- personalisation, service, a unique product people really need.

If you are not getting sales OP, you need to ask yourself what you are lacking in your business. Either:

• you are not marketing well
• your products are things people dont need
• your products are at a price people are not willing to pay

I don't post anything, I deliver it by hand

Well then you are not much good to the 90% of the population who don't live near you, are you

Really successful business will find something they can offer that amazon can't- personalisation, service, a unique product people really need

Exactly

@diplodocusinermine

www.channel4.com/news/factcheck/factcheck-why-does-amazon-pay-so-little-tax

As Sainsbury cut 3500 jobs and close 450 Argos stores. After John Lewis cut 1000 jobs yesterday. Retail Research is estimating almost quarter of a million job losses in the retail sector by the end of the year.

Why Amazon's dominance is dangerous:
www.the-american-interest.com/2018/02/20/dangers-amazons-dominance/
medium.com/swlh/the-most-dangerous-thing-about-amazon-is-that-well-never-stop-using-it-b86c11739c24

Someone further up the thread who pointed out mechanisation has been a way of life since the industrial revolution, yep, but so many people on this thread are mentioning how many jobs Amazon is (are?) creating at the moment - absolutely, but they will also be getting rid of most of those jobs the minute they can get a robot to do the same thing - they won't have to pay the robot or give them share options so win/win. For Amazon.

How many small/independents had to close down when Sainsbury/Argos opened up near them???? It's evolution of retail.

How many small/independents had to close down when Sainsbury/Argos opened up near them???? It's evolution of retail.

Actually, while this may be true for super stores, I know a number of small independents have been very pleased when a local sainsburys/tesco etc opened up because it often attracts more people to that little bit of the highstreet , who then stay to buy from the independents. A local cafe in our high street was furious that an M&S local was refused permission to take a vacant store for this exact reason - they felt that M&S shoppers would be more likely to pop into their cafe for a coffee and cake.

Certainly, I'll always choose to buy my bread and milk from a tesco/sainsburys than the local off license but if I can also pop next door to get a coffee or walk a few feet to an independent pet store to get food/treats/toys for my dog then stroll across the road to an independent pharmacy to pick up my prescription/some new nailpolish etc, I'll do it.

Incidentally, there's a growing movement that talks about town planning being very backward and very men focused. And that the successful towns of the future need to be different, taking into account that, for example, online shopping for many items will remain the most practical and/or popular and that therefore high streets and town centres need to change to accommodate what people want. What this is remains something still being debated and many women who look at this stuff are pointing out that women's desires may well be different to men's but that town centres and high streets are not taking this into account.

Eg, if you can get all your larger items online better, cheaper and more conveniently, then the stuff you go to buy in person will be more about the experience/uniqueness/service. it may well be that there needs to be a higher level of service focus in town centres rather than retail. Ditto, who uses these spaces and how to accommodate them - eg the elderly, parents (often women) with young children - so take mobility and space needs into account, as well as the services these people may need. There is research that suggests women are more likely to use public transport/be on foot, so town planning, assuming women are using these towns more, should take this into account (wider pavements/pedestrianised access, safety for children etc).

Also, how do most people's online shopping habits vary from their in person shopping habits? Online is good when you know exactly what you want. In person is often better for browsing and ideas. For me, for example, I see it with arts and crafts. It's not something I'm naturally good at. I'm much more comfortable browsing in store to see what I can get for DC than ordering online because I can get a proper sense of what the product is in person - is it going to be too big and bulky, can I turn the box and read all sides, can I ask the assistant for advice? For sensory processing disorder DS, clothes will always need to be purchased in person because he has to feel them and he needs time to become comfortable with each item. Many women I know find buying children's clothing online frustrating all round because sizing can be so erratic and you can't hold it up and get a sense as you can in real life.

This is what high streets and independent retailers all need to be thinking about. They need to seriously be considering the NEW needs of their potential customers and how to meet them.

@SpaceOP

How many small/independents had to close down when Sainsbury/Argos opened up near them???? It's evolution of retail.

Actually, while this may be true for super stores, I know a number of small independents have been very pleased when a local sainsburys/tesco etc opened up because it often attracts more people to that little bit of the highstreet , who then stay to buy from the independents. A local cafe in our high street was furious that an M&S local was refused permission to take a vacant store for this exact reason - they felt that M&S shoppers would be more likely to pop into their cafe for a coffee and cake.

Certainly, I'll always choose to buy my bread and milk from a tesco/sainsburys than the local off license but if I can also pop next door to get a coffee or walk a few feet to an independent pet store to get food/treats/toys for my dog then stroll across the road to an independent pharmacy to pick up my prescription/some new nailpolish etc, I'll do it.

That's my point - evolution. Thousands of small "corner" shops went out of business due to chain stores/supermarkets, but other shops opened up. Retail will never stay still, it will evolve constantly, and has done for decades, if not centuries. We cannot hold back the tide. Retailers must move with the times, that means some shops are unsustainable and will inevitably close, and opportunities will open for others. Back to "corner shops", most old-style grocers, greengrocers, off licences, bakers, newsagents, butchers have gone, but in their place, we have convenience stores that sell everything that several "corner shops" sold. That's the evolution of retail in practice.

@SpaceOP

How many small/independents had to close down when Sainsbury/Argos opened up near them???? It's evolution of retail.

Actually, while this may be true for super stores, I know a number of small independents have been very pleased when a local sainsburys/tesco etc opened up because it often attracts more people to that little bit of the highstreet , who then stay to buy from the independents. A local cafe in our high street was furious that an M&S local was refused permission to take a vacant store for this exact reason - they felt that M&S shoppers would be more likely to pop into their cafe for a coffee and cake.

Certainly, I'll always choose to buy my bread and milk from a tesco/sainsburys than the local off license but if I can also pop next door to get a coffee or walk a few feet to an independent pet store to get food/treats/toys for my dog then stroll across the road to an independent pharmacy to pick up my prescription/some new nailpolish etc, I'll do it.

Aah. But that's a completely different matter though. I thought we are talking about independents affected by amazon/ehatever evil chain. As a food businesses we are all always happy for shops to come in. As you said, more footfall. However, we wouldn't be happy for m&s cafe or anything competing with our offerings because that would affect us. Same way like an independent shop selling tools and everything else would be happy with cafe opening next to them, but not chain selling similar.

We can't shop on shops ATM and Xmas is coming. I shop on eBay shops but use Amazon too as like Prime TV.

@SpaceOP

Incidentally, there's a growing movement that talks about town planning being very backward and very men focused. And that the successful towns of the future need to be different, taking into account that, for example, online shopping for many items will remain the most practical and/or popular and that therefore high streets and town centres need to change to accommodate what people want. What this is remains something still being debated and many women who look at this stuff are pointing out that women's desires may well be different to men's but that town centres and high streets are not taking this into account.

Eg, if you can get all your larger items online better, cheaper and more conveniently, then the stuff you go to buy in person will be more about the experience/uniqueness/service. it may well be that there needs to be a higher level of service focus in town centres rather than retail. Ditto, who uses these spaces and how to accommodate them - eg the elderly, parents (often women) with young children - so take mobility and space needs into account, as well as the services these people may need. There is research that suggests women are more likely to use public transport/be on foot, so town planning, assuming women are using these towns more, should take this into account (wider pavements/pedestrianised access, safety for children etc).

Also, how do most people's online shopping habits vary from their in person shopping habits? Online is good when you know exactly what you want. In person is often better for browsing and ideas. For me, for example, I see it with arts and crafts. It's not something I'm naturally good at. I'm much more comfortable browsing in store to see what I can get for DC than ordering online because I can get a proper sense of what the product is in person - is it going to be too big and bulky, can I turn the box and read all sides, can I ask the assistant for advice? For sensory processing disorder DS, clothes will always need to be purchased in person because he has to feel them and he needs time to become comfortable with each item. Many women I know find buying children's clothing online frustrating all round because sizing can be so erratic and you can't hold it up and get a sense as you can in real life.

This is what high streets and independent retailers all need to be thinking about. They need to seriously be considering the NEW needs of their potential customers and how to meet them.

Town planners also need to remember that the domination of retail shopping in town centres is a VERY recent thing. Town centres used to be where people lived and worked, not just shopped, as there were factories, warehouses, offices, GP surgeries, Vets, breweries, printers, etc in the High Streets, as well as homes within walking distance (not to mention above shops etc). High Street chains "took over" town centres and converted homes and warehouses and offices etc into shops, aided and abetted by local councils who knocked down entire blocks, warehouses, factories, etc for new shopping centres. Planners now need to reduce the size of town centre retail areas to account for the fewer numbers of and demand for shops. That means re-purposing designated retail premises so that they can be converted or demolished to make way for homes or leisure.

@Badbadbunny absolutely. There was a really good piece about this in the FT a few years ago. Basically saying that we need to go back to having town centres being part residential and part commercial. And that the people who live there would then drive the services and shops that were needed. So true.

Our town centre is badly laid out for a start. But putting that aside, all down the main high street, the spaces above all the chains and charity shops are not only empty, they're also often falling part and in poor repair. You see the odd sign advertising them as office space, but it's always way too big a space for most small businesses and I suspect the fact that they look so dodgy and dark and gloomy from the outside puts people off. Proper modernisation (and pricing) could potentially re-energise the whole area. But w're just not seeing it. Meanwhile, down the road, the small village is doing the modernisation for living spaces which is great, but they don't seem to be making any effort to encourage the accompanying shops and service providers that will make it appealing (eg the M&S local). And they've done nothing to improve safety for pedestrians, which actively discourages many people from wondering around as quite frankly, just crossing the road is terrifying.

I will continue to use amazon for the same reasons as so many on here - cost, convenience, choice. A lot of the products are from small business sellers so in all honesty, it probably does more to keep small businesses running than shopping in either of my local towns. One is just a collection of major retailers, with no small independents anymore - they disappeared years ago. The other town has a couple of small businesses which I have found expensive a d lacking when it comes to customer service. The rest of the town centre is now coffee outlets and charity shops.

Day 12 of "I should have bloody bought it on Amazon". Lloyds pharmacy still haven't even acknowledged my request for refund, but I got a blood pressure monitor now... Of Amazon.

This is why amazon is gaining, and shops are losing customers

Yes, YABU. I can’t stand the mindset of people weaponising their behaviour (and encouraging others) to hurt small businesses that sell their products in this way just to “get back” at the billionaire owner who set up the platform to enable others to make money from it.
Maybe try to direct your anger/jealousy into a more reasonable action, like writing to your MP to demand that corporations pay their fair share of taxes instead.

JB has made my life a lot easier by inventing Amazon, and he is welcome to every penny I send him. I also don't resent him not paying tax. Does anyone pay tax that they are not legally required to pay?

But if he isn't paying tax, and all the tax that used to be paid by the thousands of shops in the uk which are now closed down (as people use Amazon instead) - their corporation tax on profits, rent (that landlords paid profit tax on), tax paid by employees, profits from cafes etc that shoppers used when they actually shopped.
How can you not care that that isn't being paid to HMRC. It means that the tax will be taken from British tax payers some other way, or if they don't get the tax another way the other option is to cut payments to benefits, NHS, education etc.
I find it a bit scary - we now have covid - how is the British economy to survive. So little tax is being paid now (not much from airlines, rail cos etc etc )

like writing to your MP to demand that corporations pay their fair share of taxes instead.

All companies have to issue an annual statement.
Can you list the companies not paying their tax??

Not Amazon though ' But the fact that sales are booked through the UK branch of an overseas company, rather than through a UK-based subsidiary means Amazon doesn’t have to publish accounts detailing the tax it pays in respect of its total activities in the UK. '

Another thing to bear in mind regards Amazon being customer obsessed,that as a result staff can have little voice.
A friend who is an Amazon driver can lose days of work through ‘concessions’ which come from customer giving a 👎🏼 after their delivery, if a box is damaged, late or missing it’s the driver who is blamed and not warehouse staff who haven’t packed it,or even if they forgot a ‘we missed you card’ even though parcel has been left in requested safe place, so be kind if you’re reviewing your Amazon delivery 🙂

Delivery drivers use their own cars - where I am the roads have bad potholes and many people live up farm tracks. I wonder if Amazon takes that into consideration with their pay rates????

Delivery drivers are charged £200pw rental for the vans as they are self employed, they have to fuel them. Flex drivers use cars.
There’s good and bad to it all.

I just placed another delivery for various items yesterday. I just can't stop I live rurally and Amazon is a godsend to me.

I'm pretty pissed off with Amazon right now after they messed up a very important delivery, and numerous others of lesser importance. And I pay for Prime.
However, if I'm looking for a particular thing and only Amazon has it, I have no choice.

@CatsArePeopleToo
The downside of that is if you mark down your delivery on the email with this ; 👍🏼👎🏼, it’s the driver who is sanctioned even if it is warehouse that made the error, I only found this out recently from a friend who has started there.

it’s the driver who is sanctioned even if it is warehouse that made the error

1st time it was lost on the way, 2nd time it was smashed on the way. I complained, got some vouchers as compensation. 3rd time it arrived fine so I did not mark down the driver.

The ‘lost’ thing isn’t the drivers fault it’s usually ‘missing’ because warehouse didn’t put it into cage for driver and he can’t go back for it. It’s very weighed against the driver their system.