CosmicTurtle@lemmy.world 1 year ago
There was a whitepaper that Amazon published like…5-10 years into their market dominance where they shared how they wanted to get into drone-based delivery because the vast majority of items purchased on Amazon were very light-weight items.
This tracks with me. The problem that Amazon solved (at least for me) was the ability to find small items that are near impossible to find in a Walmart or other superstore. For example, say you are looking for some wax for your car. You go to Walmart and you see a wall of products. Now did they put the wax in the right place or did they put it with the cleaning stuff? You spend 20-30 minutes looking for this one item that you’re not going to buy again for maybe a few years when you can go on amazon, find it, buy it, and have it at your door in two days.
Walmart and other stores have gotten better with their apps but they need to do what Home Depot/Lowes have done and do aisle AND bay, and, ideally, where on the shelf to find it. They already have this information but they don’t want you you to exactly know where it is because Walmart wants you to browse.
Canadian Tire moved over to digital shelf tags that link up with thier app.
Not only will the app tell you exactly where the item is but if you are having trouble there is a button on the app that will make the tag blink a bright led to help you find it.
Hah, I was pulling my hair out trying to find bouillon cubes literally the other day at Walmart. It was in the spices section, not the soups or sauces. I should’ve thought to check the website.
turkalino@lemmy.yachts 1 year ago
Same, except with soldering materials and circuit components since there’s no more Radio Shack or anything. I don’t solder super often, just to fix things in my hobby, so ordering from someone like McMaster Carr doesn’t really make sense. Amazon has been super clutch in this case
GhostlyPixel@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I have seen some simple solder equipment and supplies at Home Depot and Lowe’s in the last year, usually with the other electrical wiring and equipment. Of course, you still have to go out to a store and hope that they have something, because I have found both to have unreliable in stock information, but it can’t hurt if you need something same day.
turkalino@lemmy.yachts 1 year ago
I was more talking about soldering for microelectronics, not automobiles and homes