I find it hugely hypocritical and contradictory when people criticize Amazon and their business practices, when they themselves have an Amazon prime account and membership.
Nobody could doubt that Amazon, especially “free” one and two day shipping, has hugely improved our lives.
But isn’t it bad for the environment?
Maybe. but I tend to be bullish in thinking that Amazon will eventually find a more effective ways to package and ship their products. Capitalism actually breeds innovation, and I believe what ultimately create less waste.
For example, after Amazon bought out Whole Foods, Amazon is actually better at reducing food waste. They could use their data analytics to figure out what products are sold more than what are sold less, thus reducing overall food spoilage. i’m actually a huge fan of the new Amazon fresh grocery stores, which is a more austere vision, more simple and pure for shopping for groceries.
Ain’t nobody got time to go to store anymore
One of the best benefits of Amazon, especially as a new parent, is never having to go to the store. When you got a crying baby on your hands, the last thing you want to do is try to strap the baby in a car seat, and go to the store, only to waste time to find the products you need.
But now with Amazon, you can literally get all the baby stuff online and shipped to your front door. This includes diapers wipes and all other things end accessories.
The huge benefit of Amazon is the reviews. The reviews better help sort and aid in your decision making process. Thus lowering your cognitive load. Does he have more cognitive load to do more other important things, like attend to your child.
Why is everyone so critical of Amazon?
In someways, Amazon is like Walmart 2.0, but without the negative stigma of Walmart. I personally hate going to Walmart with a passion, it is literally the most depressing place on planet earth.
But perhaps the benefit of Amazon is that we modern people prize convenience over friction. That is, it is more convenient to just order things from your phone and have it delivered to your door, rather than having to go to the store and waste your time to find the things you need.
Do we really care about price?
I don’t think humans really want low prices for the sake of low prices, because I actually often sometimes we like Veblen goods: that is, goods that we perceive to be higher quality when they are more high priced.
I think the benefit of buying things on Amazon is knowing that you’re not over paying for anything. That everything is fair priced. Nobody likes to think that they got suckered or paid something over than what should have been.