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Walmart Abandons Amazon's Kindle Lineup

Posted by Soulskill on from the clash-of-the-titans dept.

New submitter kiriath writes "Walmart has followed Target in ceasing to sell the Amazon Kindle product line. This is not terribly surprising, since Amazon and Walmart are major competitors. From the article: 'The world's largest retailer, which has been trying to catch up to Amazon in online sales, said the decision was consistent with its overall merchandising strategy. ... Now, with two large chains no longer selling Kindle, speculation has grown that the dominant online retailer could open its stores where shoppers could try out and buy Kindles. Amazon "is a little bit of a Trojan horse" when the Kindle is sold in other stores, said Sucharita Mulpuru, retail analyst at Forrester Research. "They should have made this decision to not carry the Kindle a long time ago."'"

20 of 104 comments (clear)

  1. No Surprise by oakgrove · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Huge multi-national discount chain doesn't want to sell a product the sole purpose of which is to get people to spend money somewhere else. News at 11.

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    1. Re:No Surprise by jittles · · Score: 2

      Except that iStuff that you buy thru Apple is not a tangible good. As far as I know, Walmart only sells tangible goods. They sell books, which may compete with iBooks or Kindle mobi files, but most of AMazon's products compete directly with Walmart. Very few of Apple's do.

    2. Re:No Surprise by Sir_Sri · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Believe it or not Walmart is actually pretty good to deal with in that regard. If they can sell it at a profit they don't seem to care. Have a game that uses steam, or an item that connects you primarily to an online store that would cut walmart of the process? No problem, as long as the product in question can make money.

      I bet walmart would sell amazon gift cards if they exist (I don't know if there are physical amazon gift cards like there are for itunes, if they exist they might just not be where I am in canada).

      Walmart are assholes about commoditized goods, if your toaster isn't the cheapest toaster on the market, or you don't expect to sell a million of them they won't talk to you, or they'll demand you lower the price. And if you order 40 000 toasters to put in their stores they can change their mind if and leave you stuck with them. But if they think they'll make money on maps to the nearest costco they'd probably sell them to you.

    3. Re:No Surprise by hairyfeet · · Score: 2

      Because the Walgreen's here charges $7 a box for the same box I pay $2.50 for at the Wally world? And both are open 24/7 so its not like I have to go Walgreen's at 3AM.

      So while I wouldn't mind a LITTLE markup, triple the fricking price? Even though I live just a block from the Walgreen's and 7 miles away from the Wally world I'll take Wally over Walgreen's any day of the week, that's just highway robbery.

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  2. Who's affected? by camperdave · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Who would even buy a Kindle from WalMart or Target in the first place? That's a purchase for an electronic appliance store like a Future shop or perhaps one of the many bookstores that carry them. Walmart is for your cheap, disposable type items like beach towels, laundry baskets, desk organizers, flashlight batteries and the like; things that you don't care where you got them because you're going to replace them when they break.

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    When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    1. Re:Who's affected? by platypussrex · · Score: 2

      things that you don't care where you got them because you're going to replace them when they break.

      Sounds like a Kindle to me ;-)

    2. Re:Who's affected? by tlhIngan · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Who would even buy a Kindle from WalMart or Target in the first place?

      People who shop at Target and Walmart? People who broke theirs and need a replacement immediately? People who wants theirs immediately? (It's the same price, after all)

      Thing is, there are a LARGE number of people who don't shop online. They'll purchase stuff from curated stores (Amazon, Apple, etc), but they won't go open a browser and type www.amazon.com, click through and check out. They will however find a book, see "buy it", tap it and boom, book is on their device.

      Thing is, a lot of other countries don't often have strong online shopping cultures (mostly due to lack of a decent Amazon, and competitors that charge shipping and taxes), so being able to buy it in a retail store for the same price is often quite appealing.

    3. Re:Who's affected? by bobstreo · · Score: 2

      Because I want it now, not in some random number of days, with it stuffed under a rug on my porch.

      Sometimes I'm more willing to pay a bit more for immediacy.

    4. Re:Who's affected? by SeaFox · · Score: 2

      Who would even buy a Kindle from WalMart or Target in the first place? That's a purchase for an electronic appliance store like a Future shop or perhaps one of the many bookstores that carry them.

      Why would you want to buy one from FutureShop or a bookstore? It's not like the quality of the device is different if you get it from Target or from Fry's. A Kindle is a Kindle. The sales staff at all the retailers will be equally clueless, and as a geek you don't care about that anyway because you already know more about the product than they do. You're not there to shop and decide. You're there to buy.

      The only difference is the price and return/exchange policy. Wal-Mart being Wal-Mart, the price will be lower there. You can return/exchange an item at any other Wal-Mart with your receipt, and there are a lot more Wal-Marts than FutureShops.

      So yeah, who would even buy a Kindle from WalMart or Target in the first place?

    5. Re:Who's affected? by drinkypoo · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Who would even buy a Kindle from WalMart or Target in the first place? That's a purchase for an electronic appliance store like a Future shop or perhaps one of the many bookstores that carry them. Walmart is for your cheap, disposable type items

      You got this totally ass-backwards. Walmart is well-represented everywhere and has a generous return policy. Further, if you're a California resident you have additional rights, and many of us are (take a quick look at population distribution...) so there are many reasons to buy something in a store as opposed to ordering it. The same logic applies to buying from Costco. I could possibly have got an LCD TV cheaper elsewhere even with shipping, but they gave a 2 year warranty where the same model (with a different model number, but the same damn thing) at other places had only 1 year. AND, often if you bring something in to costco even after the warranty period they'll replace it just to keep you happy.

      No, online is the place to buy cheap, disposable items, because you can always order up another one. Wal-mart is for buying things you think you might want to take back to the store.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  3. They still sell iPads? by Cutting_Crew · · Score: 2

    "Wal-Mart continues to sell iPads, Barnes & Noble Inc's Nook, Google Inc's Nexus 7, Samsung's Galaxy Tab and other tablets and eReaders"

    So people cant use iPads to go shop at like say "amazon.com"(wow who would have thought?) and other websites to find the best deal on ebooks to everything else under the sun?

    Of course this only makes sense if you take the "amazon is our competitor" line.

  4. Amazon is preparing to crush Wal-Mart by Animats · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Amazon is taking over more and more of retail. They've already taken over books and DVDs. They took over and re-started Webvan. They're building local distribution centers for same day delivery. They bought Kiva Robotics so those warehouses won't need many people.

    The glory years of store-based retail are over. No new enclosed mall has been built in the US in a decade. Most retail areas have vacant stores that will never be used again. In a few years, retail will consist of recreational shopping and convenience stores. Everything else will be on line.

    Then all we have to worry about is downtime. Read E. M. Forster's "The Machine Stops".

    1. Re:Amazon is preparing to crush Wal-Mart by rgbrenner · · Score: 2, Informative

      he can't give you a link.. because it's not true. here's an article from 2009 that says a mall opened in 2006, and another was scheduled to open later that year (2009)
      http://theweek.com/article/index/94691/the-vanishing-shopping-mall

  5. brick and mortar by Cobble · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Amazon should just buy the ailing Best Buy franchise and then they have instant brick and mortar storefronts all across America. Apparently, many people already go to Best Buy to touch the merchandise before they go online to buy it at Amazon anyway ;)

  6. Re:(1) play with demo model before buying by kiriath · · Score: 2

    Amazon ships really fast... take this for example

  7. Re:Amazon is the biggest 'illusionist' around! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    you confuse revenue with investment, and still have the nerve to call others retards?

  8. Maybe.. not yet by rgbrenner · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Revenue:
    Walmart: 460b
    Target: 71b
    Amazon: 54b

    http://www.wikinvest.com/stock/Wal-Mart_(WMT)/Data/Revenue
    http://www.wikinvest.com/stock/Target_(TGT)/Data/Revenue
    http://www.wikinvest.com/stock/Amazon.com_(AMZN)/Data/Revenue

    Net profit:
    Walmart: 16.4b
    Target: 2.9b
    Amazon: 0.38b

    http://www.wikinvest.com/stock/Wal-Mart_(WMT)/Data/Net_Income/2012
    http://www.wikinvest.com/stock/Target_(TGT)/Data/Net_Income
    http://www.wikinvest.com/stock/Amazon.com_(AMZN)/Data/Net_Income

    So Walmart is 10x larger by revenue.. and 43x more profitable.
    Target is 1.5x larger by revenue.. and 7x more profitable.

    Amazon has a long way to go.

    1. Re:Maybe.. not yet by rgbrenner · · Score: 3, Informative

      Amazon has about the same revenue as Best Buy (50b).. but BBY made 1.28b in net profits.

      Even when comparing Amazon to retail companies of similar size.. it doesn't perform well.

      Let me rephrase.. even when comparing Amazon to failing retails giants.. Amazon does not perform well.

      Lowe's.. 50b.. 1.8b net profits
      Staples.. 25b.. 0.88b net profits

      Did you know foot locker makes 278m on 5.6b in revenue.... 2/3rd the profits on 1/10th the revenue compared to amazon.

      Point is... there's no indication that amazon will destroy B&M retail. So far they have not been able to show the profit margin or even just net profit that traditional retailers have been able to.

  9. Re:Short sighted by hawguy · · Score: 2

    They should have used their influence to work out a good online books store, and paired it with sales. Make money from value add.

    Free eBook copy with every book purchase. Maybe a kiosk. People who go to wal-mart do so regulae, have a eBook of the week deal.

    Which one is short-sighted? Amazon and Walmart are increasingly becoming competitors, Walmart probably saw little upside in helping their competitor sell products.

  10. With sales tax in CA, I expect shipping next by BlueCoder · · Score: 2

    (I absolutely hate the short title requirements)

    I expect that now that Amazon is charging sales tax in California for them to start stocking massive warehouses just outside major cites and to start running their own fleet of delivery trucks.

    They could have showrooms throughout the cities and less than 24 hour delivery service. Want to try a product? Then just arrange for it to be shipped to a nearby showroom. Free returns anyone? What about a try before you buy Netflix type product a week? Try a new laptop every week.