Amazon/Walmart are in an all-out price war that is terrifying the biggest brands | Hacker News Reader

Amazon/Walmart are in an all-out price war that is terrifying the biggest brands

recode.net

44 pointspgrote15 comments

While I can understand it's crushing to manufacturers, as consumers we get to win for a little longer.

I've taken a break from Amazon, and have found more places out there fighting for my business with equal customer service, and sometimes better prices.

> as consumers we get to win for a little longer.

Quality will be reduced to be sustainable with the pricing pressures being applied.

All this does is maintain Walmart and Amazon's sales volume, it doesn't bring consumers consumer excess by getting better products cheaper.

I hope Walmart wins. It's one of the last places around here that I can walk into and interact with an actual person and pay cash. Their online ordering/store pick-up is awesome too. I also have far fewer concerns about fake products and scams at Walmart.

I hear you.

My primary concern about Walmart is inventory management. It seems the times we shop there multiple items in different departments are out of stock.

I have trouble seeing how the brands don't have the upper hand, ultimately -- at least the big name brands.

Walmart is not going to NOT sell Doritos. And a store brand imitation isn't going to substitute.

>Walmart is not going to NOT sell Doritos. And a store brand imitation isn't going to substitute.

Walmart, with GreatValue have been able to imitate many popular brands en mass quite well. At the end of the day, people will choose the most convenient route, its partially why Walmart succeeded in the first place. Even though they didn't always have what your hometown or small chain store had, they had something like it, and it was cheaper.

Walmart has the power to replace popular products in their store with their own products and still draw in the same people in all 2200+ stores across the U.S. now that's a dystopian thought.

Please price war major appliances.

Amen to that.

Already major appliances are generally crap quality, with a lifespan of 5-8 years as opposed to the 20-30 years obtainable in past decades. I want a quality war on appliances, not a price war!

Costco needs to take the lead here. But even cheaper is better overall

Or amazon prime could.

Wanting to buy something that will last a long time is essentially an argument that there will be no significant improvements in that device category in your lifetime.

It also implies that you do not expect your needs or desires will change.

I have no sympathy for Walmart. Their anticompetitive behavior led to the death of thousands if not millions of smaller local businesses. If they themselves are usurped by a company that uses anticompetitive behavior better, that's fine by me.

When Amazon starts selling cars, and cuts out the money spent on main dealer premises and people in suits sat around all day doing very little. That's when you know the future's here.

Remember that behind those guys sitting around all day in suits, there is another guy sitting around all day on his boat.

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