Amazon Is The Master of the 3rd Date & What The F#!k Retailers Can Do About It

I published this on LinkedIn first, but reposted here for your enjoyment.

Yeah — That is Jeff Bezos laughing. If you’ve ever heard his laugh, it is a generous, authentic, and loud. And Mr. Bezos has a lot to laugh about these days. He is the richest man in the world, and every day, his competition gets a little weaker. Man, it’s like this guy is running downhill for the entire race. Lots of people say that Amazon is competing unfairly — that they don’t need to worry about profit. They are cheating and not playing by the same rules as everyone else.

Almost every publicly-traded retailer mentions Amazon in their earnings call. The President of the United States accuses Amazon of chicanery. Amazon is killing retail, right?

WAIT.

FULL STOP.

I CALL BS HERE.

AMAZON ISN’T KILLING RETAIL. IT’S KILLING RETAILERS.

And that is a huge difference.

So, let’s take a step back, shall we?

1. When Amazon launched, they had NO advantages over a traditional retailer. They had a a hard time getting front-line books AND you had to wait days (or more!) for the products to get to you. It is amazing that they survived.
2. As Amazon grew, they continued to maximize the spots where they had some control — selection & price. Bigger…