Walmart Abandons Amazon's Kindle Lineup 104
New submitter kiriath writes "Walmart has followed Target in ceasing to sell the Amazon Kindle product line. This is not terribly surprising, since Amazon and Walmart are major competitors. From the article: 'The world's largest retailer, which has been trying to catch up to Amazon in online sales, said the decision was consistent with its overall merchandising strategy. ... Now, with two large chains no longer selling Kindle, speculation has grown that the dominant online retailer could open its stores where shoppers could try out and buy Kindles. Amazon "is a little bit of a Trojan horse" when the Kindle is sold in other stores, said Sucharita Mulpuru, retail analyst at Forrester Research. "They should have made this decision to not carry the Kindle a long time ago."'"
No Surprise (Score:5, Insightful)
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Amazon sells everything that Target, Walmart, Kmart, Sears, etc , to sell a device that undermines your business is stupid!! It's like Apple selling Kindle app or Google youTube app or Amazon Mobile app, etc! Oh wait, never mind
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they also sell droid based units what is going on here is they don't want to sell a platform made entirely to act as a store front (that happens to also be able to play angry birds) for their on-line competitor. Apple doesn't sell anything but computers tablets phones and music players and digital downloads. wallmart sells everything so does amazon. All this will do is get amazon to sell the kindle, kindlefire at radioshacks and insert_mobile_service_provider_here store and staples.
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Why bother for the cold meds? The pharmacy counter of a typical drug store ( like cvs or walgreens) is a lot closer to the entrance, and much, much closer to your parking space, and the parking space is usually closer to your home. And the lines are usually shorter, too.
I can see the bakery items. They're usually a lot cheaper than you get at a real bakery, but the product is different, too. That box of sudafed is the same no matter where you buy it, so the prices are similar everywhere.
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Re:No Surprise (Score:4, Interesting)
Believe it or not Walmart is actually pretty good to deal with in that regard. If they can sell it at a profit they don't seem to care. Have a game that uses steam, or an item that connects you primarily to an online store that would cut walmart of the process? No problem, as long as the product in question can make money.
I bet walmart would sell amazon gift cards if they exist (I don't know if there are physical amazon gift cards like there are for itunes, if they exist they might just not be where I am in canada).
Walmart are assholes about commoditized goods, if your toaster isn't the cheapest toaster on the market, or you don't expect to sell a million of them they won't talk to you, or they'll demand you lower the price. And if you order 40 000 toasters to put in their stores they can change their mind if and leave you stuck with them. But if they think they'll make money on maps to the nearest costco they'd probably sell them to you.
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Correct. I have one.
Any idea what to spend a $25 Amazon gift card on that's not a video game, now that I have the "pleasure" of paying sales tax on it?
I mean really. What should I get? Ebooks? A life time supply of aglets?
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While some states may have different requirements, typically gift cards are not taxable sales.
This is because you potentially end up paying sales tax twice - once when you purchase the card, and then again when the card is used.
It's entirely possible that this is changing as legislators become aware of the tax loophole created when you sell gift cards for *other* companies (which may have locations in tax-free states, or be online-only) - but to my knowledge it's not happening in most states yet.
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I live in California.
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Huge multi-national discount chain doesn't want to sell a product the sole purpose of which is to get people to spend money somewhere else. News at 11.
That could have been money for Walmart, if they made a deal with Amazon, where Walmart would take a cut of the digital sales from units sold at their stores.
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Hell still hot: Coca Cola refuses to let Pepsi sell soda in their office vending machines.
Hell still hot: Olympic games sponsored by Visa don't allow Mastercard to be used for paying concessions stands.
General principle: When you're playing on someone else's turf, you abide by their will, and if they kick you out anyway, tough shit for you.
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Wait.. aren't Visa and Mastercard both part of the same consortium?
So they closed ONE Path (Score:1)
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That's like saying they shouldn't sell computers because you can shop online with them. Android/Apple phones and tablets can also access the Walmart app and visit walmart.com. So can Kindle tablets, by the way. The difference is that the Kindle devices are much more proactive about you trying to buy from someone that isn't Walmart.
With that said, I'm sure there's another (possibly bigger) reason for the decision. Retail stores have to maximize earnings per square foot. The Kindle either didn't sell wel
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studies showed that people would come into retail stores and play with the kindle, then return home and buy it online. now that's wasted retail space.
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That sounds strange at first glance. I'm guessing the reason is taxes. I wonder if that metric would change at all, now that Amazon is collecting tax in more states. I know that Amazon has lost some of its edge for me in California, especially if the items are the same price in-store and online.
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I bought a kindle fire (original) at a physical store solely because online reviews said that amazon associates your kindle to your account before shipping it to you. so if it got stolen in the mail or by the door (because of the stupid kindle sticker on the box), the thieves can buy crap on you amazon account.
I regret buying it though, since the kindle app on an ipad is more user friendly (for example, it takes fewer steps to change brightness within the kindle app on the ipad than on the kindle fire).
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It's a combination of things. One, if you get a Kindle you are led to Amazon. Two, they already sell other e-Book readers, so someone coming in to make an e-Reader impulse buy has other options and won't necessarily leave with a device that encourages users to bypass Wal-Mart. Three, as siblings state, people would not only buy it from Amazon, but they would go look at it at Wal-Mart first and then not buy it. And I don't know about you, but as I have standards I can go look for ten things Wal-Mart ought to
Who's affected? (Score:3, Insightful)
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things that you don't care where you got them because you're going to replace them when they break.
Sounds like a Kindle to me ;-)
Re:Who's affected? (Score:5, Insightful)
People who shop at Target and Walmart? People who broke theirs and need a replacement immediately? People who wants theirs immediately? (It's the same price, after all)
Thing is, there are a LARGE number of people who don't shop online. They'll purchase stuff from curated stores (Amazon, Apple, etc), but they won't go open a browser and type www.amazon.com, click through and check out. They will however find a book, see "buy it", tap it and boom, book is on their device.
Thing is, a lot of other countries don't often have strong online shopping cultures (mostly due to lack of a decent Amazon, and competitors that charge shipping and taxes), so being able to buy it in a retail store for the same price is often quite appealing.
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>> Who would even buy a Kindle from WalMart or Target in the first place?
> People who shop at Target and Walmart? People who broke theirs and
> need a replacement immediately? People who wants theirs immediately?
> (It's the same price, after all)
People who hate the thought of having to deal with shipping something back to a retailer if there's a problem? (Me.) People who bought it on sale? ($79 and got a $30 gift card -- also me.) People who save 5% by using their Target card? Etc etc etc.
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People going to Target or Wal-Mart? I know, crazy huh.
Lets see:
People back to school shopping, people buying clothes, people buying groceries, people looking at things there going to buy online.
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Because I want it now, not in some random number of days, with it stuffed under a rug on my porch.
Sometimes I'm more willing to pay a bit more for immediacy.
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Sometimes I'm more willing to pay a bit more for immediacy.
ever heard of 2-day or next day shipping?
that might be more than a "bit", but you also have to factor in your time driving, gas, waiting for some clerk to find the key to open the locked cabinet where they keep them, standing in line to check out, and so on.
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(1) play with demo model before buying (Score:2)
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Amazon ships really fast... take this for example [youtube.com]
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Who would even buy a Kindle from WalMart or Target in the first place? That's a purchase for an electronic appliance store like a Future shop or perhaps one of the many bookstores that carry them.
Why would you want to buy one from FutureShop or a bookstore? It's not like the quality of the device is different if you get it from Target or from Fry's. A Kindle is a Kindle. The sales staff at all the retailers will be equally clueless, and as a geek you don't care about that anyway because you already know more about the product than they do. You're not there to shop and decide. You're there to buy.
The only difference is the price and return/exchange policy. Wal-Mart being Wal-Mart, the price will be l
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did you know that you get the same kindle regardless of where you buy it? people are going to purchase where it's most convenient. stores like target and walmart have much higher traffic and than some specialized gadget store.
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Re:Who's affected? (Score:4, Interesting)
Who would even buy a Kindle from WalMart or Target in the first place? That's a purchase for an electronic appliance store like a Future shop or perhaps one of the many bookstores that carry them. Walmart is for your cheap, disposable type items
You got this totally ass-backwards. Walmart is well-represented everywhere and has a generous return policy. Further, if you're a California resident you have additional rights, and many of us are (take a quick look at population distribution...) so there are many reasons to buy something in a store as opposed to ordering it. The same logic applies to buying from Costco. I could possibly have got an LCD TV cheaper elsewhere even with shipping, but they gave a 2 year warranty where the same model (with a different model number, but the same damn thing) at other places had only 1 year. AND, often if you bring something in to costco even after the warranty period they'll replace it just to keep you happy.
No, online is the place to buy cheap, disposable items, because you can always order up another one. Wal-mart is for buying things you think you might want to take back to the store.
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Who would even buy a Kindle from WalMart ?
they would : http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/ [peopleofwalmart.com]
They still sell iPads? (Score:3)
So people cant use iPads to go shop at like say "amazon.com"(wow who would have thought?) and other websites to find the best deal on ebooks to everything else under the sun?
Of course this only makes sense if you take the "amazon is our competitor" line.
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"Wal-Mart continues to sell iPads, Barnes & Noble Inc's Nook, Google Inc's Nexus 7, Samsung's Galaxy Tab and other tablets and eReaders" So people cant use iPads to go shop at like say "amazon.com"(wow who would have thought?) and other websites to find the best deal on ebooks to everything else under the sun? Of course this only makes sense if you take the "amazon is our competitor" line.
Kindles were specifically designed and priced to streamline the user into purchasing products (eBooks) from Amazon. iPads and the like might have their tie-in to iTunes but it's not as cannibalistic.
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Or if you take the "Amazon was encouraging people to get physical prices in stores, and get a 15% discount online" as competition.
How about a taste? (Score:2)
Amazon should give the retailer who sold the kindle a little taste on each purchase that is made on the device.
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you confuse revenue with investment, and still have the nerve to call others retards?
PC's and lappy too? (Score:1)
Huh? (Score:2)
What does Wal-Mart have to do with Target?
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What does Wal-Mart have to do with Target?
They were were selling Kindles and being used by Amazon as a showroom. Now they stopped selling kindles...
I don't see the problem here... (Score:2)
since Amazon and Walmart are major competitors
Uh...Walmart/Target don't make tablets to my knowledge, why not make sell (and thus make money off of) a product of a competitor in a totally different field?
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But that's the problem. People who buy a kindle only buy it once (or once every so often when a better one comes out or they break it). But if they're using it to read books, they're buying books much more frequently. And as long as they're logged in to amazon, why not order a pack of batteries, some dry goods, (and I think amazon actually does sell milk and bread, come to think of it.)
Amazon is preparing to crush Wal-Mart (Score:5, Interesting)
Amazon is taking over more and more of retail. They've already taken over books and DVDs. They took over and re-started Webvan. [webvan.com] They're building local distribution centers for same day delivery. They bought Kiva Robotics so those warehouses won't need many people.
The glory years of store-based retail are over. No new enclosed mall has been built in the US in a decade. Most retail areas have vacant stores that will never be used again. In a few years, retail will consist of recreational shopping and convenience stores. Everything else will be on line.
Then all we have to worry about is downtime. Read E. M. Forster's "The Machine Stops".
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he can't give you a link.. because it's not true. here's an article from 2009 that says a mall opened in 2006, and another was scheduled to open later that year (2009)
http://theweek.com/article/index/94691/the-vanishing-shopping-mall [theweek.com]
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Yes, one new mall opened in 2006. That's it since then. The huge Xanadu mall in New Jersey that was supposed to open in 2009 didn't open. Two bankruptcies and a roof collapse later, opening is now scheduled for 2014. [wikipedia.org] Maybe.
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I went and took a look. This reincarnated Webvan is pretty sad. Most items I looked for are marked 'out of stock' and while they list some perishable items, they don't appear to have ANY of them stocked.
Most of the products can probably be found direct on amazon.com instead.
Maybe.. not yet (Score:5, Interesting)
Revenue:
Walmart: 460b
Target: 71b
Amazon: 54b
http://www.wikinvest.com/stock/Wal-Mart_(WMT)/Data/Revenue [wikinvest.com]
http://www.wikinvest.com/stock/Target_(TGT)/Data/Revenue [wikinvest.com]
http://www.wikinvest.com/stock/Amazon.com_(AMZN)/Data/Revenue [wikinvest.com]
Net profit:
Walmart: 16.4b
Target: 2.9b
Amazon: 0.38b
http://www.wikinvest.com/stock/Wal-Mart_(WMT)/Data/Net_Income/2012 [wikinvest.com]
http://www.wikinvest.com/stock/Target_(TGT)/Data/Net_Income [wikinvest.com]
http://www.wikinvest.com/stock/Amazon.com_(AMZN)/Data/Net_Income [wikinvest.com]
So Walmart is 10x larger by revenue.. and 43x more profitable.
Target is 1.5x larger by revenue.. and 7x more profitable.
Amazon has a long way to go.
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So Walmart is 10x larger by revenue.. and 43x more profitable.
Target is 1.5x larger by revenue.. and 7x more profitable.
Amazon has a long way to go.
While true, Amazon got a late start - the company didn't get off the ground until 1994, and didn't even have its first profitable quarter until 2001 when it had $1B in revenue -- Walmart hit $1B in revenue back in 1980.
Re:Maybe.. not yet (Score:4, Informative)
Amazon has about the same revenue as Best Buy (50b).. but BBY made 1.28b in net profits.
Even when comparing Amazon to retail companies of similar size.. it doesn't perform well.
Let me rephrase.. even when comparing Amazon to failing retails giants.. Amazon does not perform well.
Lowe's.. 50b.. 1.8b net profits
Staples.. 25b.. 0.88b net profits
Did you know foot locker makes 278m on 5.6b in revenue.... 2/3rd the profits on 1/10th the revenue compared to amazon.
Point is... there's no indication that amazon will destroy B&M retail. So far they have not been able to show the profit margin or even just net profit that traditional retailers have been able to.
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You know what's hilarious? Best Buy is still more profitable than Amazon:
net profit
Best Buy: 12m
Amazon: 7m
http://www.jagsreport.com/2012/09/amazon-announces-96-profit-decrease-nasdaq-amzn/ [jagsreport.com]
http://www.forbes.com/sites/steveschaefer/2012/08/21/best-buy-profit-plunges-retailer-suspends-guidance-and-share-buybacks/ [forbes.com]
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It is a vigorous, growing company unlike the others you cite.
Amazon is growing at 20% a year. On 50b in revenue, that's about +10b/year.. very impressive.
Walmart is growing at 6% a year. On 450b in revenue, that's about +27b/year. Double the growth of Amazon
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2012/snapshots/2255.html [cnn.com]
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The glory years of store-based retail are over. No new enclosed mall has been built in the US in a decade. Most retail areas have vacant stores that will never be used again.
In a few years, retail will consist of recreational shopping and convenience stores.
That's why US retailers are coming to Canada.
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No new enclosed malls in the past decade? [wikipedia.org]
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iTunes sells music and movies, Walmart sells music and movies.
It's likely that Apple shares more of the revenue from a $499 iPad than Amazon does on a $199 Kindle.
Plus, while Apple and Walmart both sell music and movies, Amazon and Walmart both sell music, movies, books, TV's, toaster ovens, mouthwash, pet supplies, etc -- there's *much* more overlap, and Amazon continues to expand its presence with their warehouse build out.
Short sighted (Score:2)
They should have used their influence to work out a good online books store, and paired it with sales. Make money from value add.
Free eBook copy with every book purchase. Maybe a kiosk. People who go to wal-mart do so regulae, have a eBook of the week deal.
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They should have used their influence to work out a good online books store, and paired it with sales. Make money from value add.
Free eBook copy with every book purchase. Maybe a kiosk. People who go to wal-mart do so regulae, have a eBook of the week deal.
Which one is short-sighted? Amazon and Walmart are increasingly becoming competitors, Walmart probably saw little upside in helping their competitor sell products.
brick and mortar (Score:3, Interesting)
I don't get it (Score:2)
I own a retail store and one of my competitors has a wholesale/manufacturing business. We both hate each other as I use to work for them BUT I still sell their products as "I" make money off them.
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I own a retail store and one of my competitors has a wholesale/manufacturing business. We both hate each other as I use to work for them BUT I still sell their products as "I" make money off them.
The problem isn't that Walmart wouldn't make money on the Kindle.
The problem is that if you buy the Kindle, are you going to go back to Walmart to buy your movies/books/music?
Imagine you were selling a direct channel to your competitor. That probably wouldn't sit with you well.
With sales tax in CA, I expect shipping next (Score:3)
(I absolutely hate the short title requirements)
I expect that now that Amazon is charging sales tax in California for them to start stocking massive warehouses just outside major cites and to start running their own fleet of delivery trucks.
They could have showrooms throughout the cities and less than 24 hour delivery service. Want to try a product? Then just arrange for it to be shipped to a nearby showroom. Free returns anyone? What about a try before you buy Netflix type product a week? Try a new laptop every week.
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They're already working on it.
http://www.slate.com/articles/business/small_business/2012/07/amazon_same_day_delivery_how_the_e_commerce_giant_will_destroy_local_retail_.html [slate.com]