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Why Amazon Wants To Pay Sales Tax
Maximum Prophet writes "A while ago, Amazon caved on paying individual states sales taxes. Now we know why. Amazon is setting up same-day delivery warehouses everywhere. They will put most normal retailers out of business." If that's a bet, I'll take it.
You could. Walmart has free shipping. Even to Alaska.
That's completely insane - they are undercutting local businesses by 20 - 40%. Don't know how long they're going to keep this up but watching it is entertaining.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Robotic warehouses are not the nirvana that so many claim they are. The problem comes when demand falls off (all demand is cyclical) and your competition lets people go while your left with the same fixed costs. This is happening right now in the industry I work in, where the former leader is plunging out of control from large infrastructure costs, particularly their very sophisticated warehouses, that their competition doesn't have.
The strategy also seems to overlook that thing where, you know, people don't wanna' pay sales tax. Here in California that amounts to an almost 10% savings for those consumers who violate state sales and use tax laws (of course, I don't).
I once took an excursion to Reddit, and later HN. Unlimited up/down voting sucks when dealing with a hive-mind.
America is still the #1 manufacturer of all globally produced goods. We manufacture 60% of all globally produced goods and China/Japan account for the majority of the balance. The difference is that the scale of manufacturing has shrunk from 10,000 person factories to small shops that employ under 50 people. The real issue I see is training. If you open the want ads you will see many, many worker wanted ads for machinists, CNC operators, lathe operators, CAD detailers etc .... The problem is that the small shops don't have training facilities or do apprenticeship programs or journeyman programs anymore.
While the US doesn't do large scale industrial widget manufacturing anymore, we still do lot's of manufacturing for the military, oil/gas industries, medical industry, auto and aerospace industry. Many companies are now pulling out of China as the cost benefit is vanishing as the Yuan has been allowed to float. These companies are creating automated assembly lines and pulling as much labor out as possible to produce goods here that are higher quality and at the same cost (or lower) as manufacturing in China. Additionally, companies are finding they can have much more agile supply chains and can cut lead times tremendously.
My advice to the 300 million people is find something that you like to do and get good at it. Competency is a rare commodity these days. And if you can't find something you love to do, then find a field and specialize in something that can't be outsourced, examples: pipe-fitter, welder, electrician, plumber, amazon warehouse picker robot repairer, physical therapist... and the list goes on.
Let me give you a brief list of the items in my home (purchased in the last 2-years that are Made in USA) * Garage Doors * Garbage Disposal (InSinkerator) * Entry Doors * Lumber to Construct Split Rail Fence * Roofing Shingles * Insulation (for Walls) * Drywall * Craftsman Tools (with lifetime breakage guarantee) * Spatula (for cooking, yes I found one made in USA) * Ford Mercury Mariner * Step2 - Playground Equipment * Open Sprinker Valve Controller * Paint * Various adhesive products * Worktables * Furniture * Mattresses * Toothpaste/Shampoo/Deodorant/BandAids and the list goes on and on. While the USA is not producing electronics (which is really stupid for national security reasons) we still produce lots and lots of stuff.