This is a prime(!) example of a really powerful kind of first-mover advantage. It will be difficult to overcome with communication or advertising.

I remember Amazon's policy, like millions of others, because of a little shot of dopamine in my 20s. Amazon was the first to do it; we all discovered it and it seemed like a bit of the future.

I've used Wal-mart shipping, but couldn't tell you what the policy is, because it didn't strike me as new or unusual when I ran across it. I'm not sure you can communicate out of that hole in my cohort.

(Now, you might change my behavior if you convince me that Wal-Mart is better about weeding out counterfeits; that's new information).

Maybe make some commercials? "Yeah, we've got free 2-day shipping, and you don't need a membership. Or we have 1-hour pickup. How close is your nearest river?"

Stupid question but what exactly about Amazon gave you a shot of dopamine in your 20s?

Others have said it, but Amazon's free two-day shipping with $25 (or was it $50?) purchase felt nearly magical.

As a student, I could take a $40 cab ride, or spend all day Saturday on train schlepping a shower curtain from Bed Bath, music from Best Buy, and a cheap dorm fridge from Wal-Mart. Or I could order it from Amazon at competitive prices, and it showed up on my door step in two days. Amazon was the equivalent of finding entire extra days in your schedule.

(Note, Prime came later. The original magic was two-days, $25 minimum, no membership.)

Assuming we're talking like 10+ years ago, it was the hassle free speed of ordering, the cheap, fast deliveries (and accurate delivery time estimates), the product selection, the live inventory and ease of returns. Compared to everyone else doing e-commerce at that time, Amazon was in a league of its own (at least in the UK).

Free two-day shipping, presumably. I know that gave me a shot of dopamine when I first discovered it.

Ummm... What? I don't consider $80/year free.

Maybe it's just me but I can't imagine getting​ a shot of dopamine from paying money to shop. $80 is pretty pricey at that.

You're not paying money to shop; you're paying money for shipping and unlimited access to their video library (and a bunch of other stuff, I'm sure). I'm not sure what the average shipping cost is, but if it were $5 then you should get Prime if you are going to buy more than 16 things from them.

The video portion was only added in 2011 and I really, really don't see the appeal of prepaying for shipping. Especially $80/year worth.

I either upgrade to 2 day if I need it earlier and if I don't I'll use the saver shipping and get it in a week.

The appeal is that the shipping cost is much cheaper the more you buy.

Do you not understand the appeal of any membership service? Costco is the same idea, for example. Or gym memberships, etc.

I think he is specifically talking about the free two day shipping that came with a relatively low minimum purchase, not the free two day on any purchase via prime subscription.

For several years before Prime, Amazon offered free two-day shipping on most $25 orders, no extra fees or membership. Maybe it started out at $50.

Super Saver shipping was never 2-day, it was always 5-7 day, at least since 2002 which was the first time I've ordered from Amazon. Prime also started at $80/year, I looked it up. Paying $80/year to get my items slightly earlier sounds like a terrible deal.

In the context of students, Prime Student is 50% off. It appears to still be that way. This built up a lot of loyalty for early Prime members who were students. That loyalty appears to have continued for close to a decade for many people.

Remember that way back when it was business as usual to pay $10+ for shipping if you bought online. This meant that if you bought online more than 4 times throughout the course of an entire year, you were ahead. It also allowed you to buy at any time without worrying about the minimum purchase total, increasing buying frequency.

This is sad--you people need to come to grips with your materialism and cut...that...shit...out. There's nothing you can buy that will actually make you happier. I'm just as guilty as anyone, quite honestly, but am trying to get better. I look at my neighbors just filling up their houses with shit they don't need. Yesterday, I was driving through a neighborhood and lo and behold there was a house with two full Bagsters out in front full of--you guessed it--shit they didn't need!

I wonder if I can order a Bagster on Amazon? Ayup!

You know that Amazon sells stuff other than materialistic bling, right? I mean, I buy soap and toilet paper and stuff like that on Amazon. No, that doesn't make me happier, but it makes my significant other happier which I guess in a round-about way does make me happier. :shrug:

> There's nothing you can buy that will actually make you happier.

Nothing? Lots of things I buy make me happier.

The stuff I buy that doesn't make me happy is often stuff that I need anyway (like dog food and toilet paper).

> cut...that...shit...out

> I'm just as guilty as anyone

> trying to get better

> trying

Do as I say not as I do?

Except in this case many of us know about Walmart's product. This seems to be just lazy journalism.

Even worse, it isn't a journalist making the mistake, it is someone patting themselves on the back for having unique insight into the advantages Amazon has over competitors.

The author is nothing if not confident about their predictive senses: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8943297

I had no idea. Last time I used Walmart.com (maybe 5 years ago?), I had the option of in-store pickup if it's available, ship to store for free if it's not (sometimes takes several weeks, what's up with that?) or shipping to my house (5-7 days).

Maybe the problem with Walmart is they have a toxic brand for a certain market segment. Even with free same-day in-store pickup, I would still use Amazon's two-day shipping in order to avoid going into my local Walmart.

You should try visiting some rural/small-town Walmarts. They're actually quite nice. The ones in urban areas I've been to look like war zones: stuff scattered all over, shelves half-bare, everything dirty, etc. The ones I've been to in rural areas are very nice and decent. Sure, the store's full of Trump voters but they generally keep to themselves, but more importantly the stores are clean and well kept-up from what I've seen. Also, the customers in rural Walmarts are a much better crowd: in urban areas, the customers are the bottom of the barrel, people who are too poor/cheap to shop at Target or better. In rural areas, everyone shops at Walmart because that's all there is. So not only are the poorer people there, but all the local doctors, lawyers, dentists, etc. are shopping there too, so the clientele overall looks decent, instead of a caricature of the "peopleofwalmart" website.

I currently live in a small mid-Atlantic town, and shop at Walmart for groceries because the nearest Target is 30 minutes away. Sure, there's some annoying customers sometimes with monster trucks or T-shirts with guns on them, but I don't feel like I'm going to be mugged. When I lived in northern New Jersey, that's exactly how I felt, so I didn't go to Walmart if I could help it. (But the nearby Target was great, so that's where I shopped for that kind of stuff.)

Not pickup, it's free two day shipping

https://www.walmart.com/cp/free-shipping/1088989

There's also ShopRunner that comes free if you have an American Express card. You can use ShopRunner at a bunch of places like NewEgg, Drugstore.com, PetsMart, and more. Free two day shipping.

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/content/shoprunner.html

And the amazing thing about it is it includes a lot of the basic foodstuff staples that amazon doesn't carry, or adds a hidden $4 shipping charge to. Compare the price for a low-end shaving cream at Walmart and Amazon. Walmart: $1.75. Amazon only has them at $5 each, or in a 6-pack for $13.