If replacing workers with robots was Amazon's main angle, they would have been better off going for Safeway or that type of mass merchant. why? ...putting cans of soup on a shelf seems like a much easier challenge to robotize than picking out the nicest veggies.
I think Amazon's main angle, or one of them, is to have a lot of places where well-heeled shoppers can be counted on to be there a couple of times a week... allowing them to order (via mobile phone) and in many cases pickup their Amazon goods when they are grocery shopping and without sending a delivery truck out. Delivery is the last big cost factor to address. Amazon Prime has helped but they can make more on the entertainment, if they can shift the some delivery cost back a less costly avenue.
Amazon and Walmart are trying to maximize every little part of the retail transaction but in the end, my money would be on Amazon as their online capability is so huge.
Axil Axil wrote:
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