Amazon buying RadioShack could be a good move in terms of getting their hardware places where people can actually play and interact with them. Google announced they are going to have their own stores as well. Now the big tablet sellers, Apple, Google, Microsoft, (Nook?), all have stores for customers to see their tablets except for Amazon. This could end up being a big weakness for Amazon as it continues to dive deeper into the hardware market.
What??? This article is so poorly thought out that I can't help but laugh.
It begins with a failed premise: Amazon has setup lockers to expand their current biz model to areas and customers they can't serve well due to delivery hassles, not because they want to get into retail.
Like any good sales bait and switch, the article then reminds you that it's a great deal ("RS has lost more than 80% of it's value") and that other people have been talking about it ("in the tech and dealmaking community"). Toss in a couple of reasons why it just fits in your life (Amazon doing grocery, needs warehouse space!) and you've got some terrible business analysis.
Then, like a good number of authors writing a complete speculation piece, bring in Google and Best Buy. Those companies come to mind when you think tech and retail, so why not? Complete the story with an Apple reference, a complete strawman counter-argument so you look like an advanced writer, and the contacted but no comment response and you've got a terrible piece of "tech journalism" just ready for linkspam.
Reality? Amazon is at the peak of destroying the likes of retail giants like Best Buy and Borders Books gone wrong. No one wants anything to do with Radio Shack, a retail presence that could barely keep up with its pre-Amazon contemporaries, especially not Bezos. Why would he want to revert to that antiquated business model after so much refinement of his scalable yet hyper-efficient and low cost approach? He doesn't - Kindle is an established brand and Amazon has no patience (or desire) for showrooming. The old-school electronics retail giants will continue to fail to adapt, while your Wal-Mart and Target style stores pick up the pieces. Yes, retail is changing and most consumers probably won't like it after they realize what's happening, but that doesn't mean it won't or that Amazon will buy RadioShack. Hah!
3 comments
[ 0.25 ms ] story [ 19.9 ms ] threadIt begins with a failed premise: Amazon has setup lockers to expand their current biz model to areas and customers they can't serve well due to delivery hassles, not because they want to get into retail.
Like any good sales bait and switch, the article then reminds you that it's a great deal ("RS has lost more than 80% of it's value") and that other people have been talking about it ("in the tech and dealmaking community"). Toss in a couple of reasons why it just fits in your life (Amazon doing grocery, needs warehouse space!) and you've got some terrible business analysis.
Then, like a good number of authors writing a complete speculation piece, bring in Google and Best Buy. Those companies come to mind when you think tech and retail, so why not? Complete the story with an Apple reference, a complete strawman counter-argument so you look like an advanced writer, and the contacted but no comment response and you've got a terrible piece of "tech journalism" just ready for linkspam.
Reality? Amazon is at the peak of destroying the likes of retail giants like Best Buy and Borders Books gone wrong. No one wants anything to do with Radio Shack, a retail presence that could barely keep up with its pre-Amazon contemporaries, especially not Bezos. Why would he want to revert to that antiquated business model after so much refinement of his scalable yet hyper-efficient and low cost approach? He doesn't - Kindle is an established brand and Amazon has no patience (or desire) for showrooming. The old-school electronics retail giants will continue to fail to adapt, while your Wal-Mart and Target style stores pick up the pieces. Yes, retail is changing and most consumers probably won't like it after they realize what's happening, but that doesn't mean it won't or that Amazon will buy RadioShack. Hah!