Whole Foods flagship store in Austin, Texas and the other 450 stores will become part of the Amazon empire, giving the online behmoth an immediate presence on Main Street and threatening to disrupt the retail grocery business.
From the first caption for an image, we're spraying that purple paint like we're Banksy. Whole Foods will become part of the Amazon empire and that's got to be bad, empires always are. Amazon is that online behemoth and that's such an awful thing the hipsters couldn't spell it correctly. The purchase is threatening to disrupt and, Lord, no, they must be terrorists.
The above should give some measure of the fear and anxious trepidation about due to the sudden realization all this talk about online replacing customer-facing retails stores looks like it's real and that means ... oh no ...
Infer the I told you so speech and let's get on with it.
It also is expected to hasten existing efforts by grocers to make shopping more smartphone-ready, sell more private label and specialty foods and overcome the hurdles of home-delivery of groceries.
Amazon's strong record of keeping prices low adds pressure on supermarket chains that may be forced to consolidate to cut costs in a bid to keep up.
That could in turn spur mergers among large food manufacturers that feel compelled to negotiate with heftier clients.
Phys.org: Amazon deal seen as disruptor of grocery business
Give as much credence as you wish to the speculations of those who failed to see this coming but we are watching cultural evolution in action and this time it's dramatic, far removed from the Anthropology survey course.
Many jobs are going overboard from it as we have noted previously so no need to flog you with it again. (Ithaka: On the Age of Robos and Economic Collapse w/Thoughts from Kannafoot on the Right)
This is real life cultural evolution right before your eyes since we really don't know for sure how well the culture will absorb a fundamental shift in the way we do a fundamental thing (i.e. shopping for groceries). At present and judging by the present article, the culture is general shocked and awed so it's really not so sure what to do about it.
At the root of it, you can accept the Amazon model for the supply chain or you can work it out with your creditors at a later time. It is the future and you can see clearly now it's coming. This one won't go away and won't be averted temporarily by rains in the Spring.
We have (cough) food for thought from The Guardian: Whole Foods for thought: Austin foodies ponder future under Amazon
Well, you know what, mates ... you're either going to have to graduate to becoming real gourmets or join us, the rest of the bozos on the bus. Not to worry too much since I can tell you where to get some really first-rate Tellicherry peppercorns. (Ithaka: Telicherry Peppercorns Because Po' Still Needs Pepper)
Suitable for the most cultured palate, monsieur.
Understand the premise that preparation is always your best approach. Recognize these things are changing and review how that works inside your own life since you may well discover it works better. One of the biggest things about automated grocery shopping is we want to touch our vegetables because no-one wants a squishy avocado and you don't know for sure if you don't select it yourself.
However, Peapod has been a provider for automated marketing in the Northwest for years. I was a highly-satisfied customer and I am also highly-particular about my produce. Peapod never let me down and they did all the selection of that nature. I was doing that at least ten years ago and Peapod is still going strong.
There's the shipping when you buy something from Amazon just as there is a delivery charge for services such as Peapod but on balance there's the cost of rolling a car when you consider how often you roll it back and forth to a market. In time the car wears out but the shipping / service charges from online remain the same.
The Rockhouse doesn't care that much for cars in the first place particularly when I may have to interrupt whatever cool thing I'm doing to drive somewhere to do something I didn't particularly want to do. Instead, I roll a chair to the computer to tap, tap, tap place my grocery order and, presto, the task-oriented aspect of my day is complete. It's a deal, mates. I love that.
All together now with the Rockhouse Mantra: happiness is the absence of things which suck.
Miss Lizzy: I not only enjoy shopping but I need the tactile sense of a fabric to properly make my sections.
Good golly, Miss Lizzy, and of course you're right but how about a hipster next level with a tactile sense which is transmissible via computer.
- Infer a length state of ribaldry in discussion the autoporno applications online but we will take the pornus interruptus exit on that one -
Miss Lizzy: such a sense online is impossible!
Imagine, if you will, just how many times I have heard that in my lunatic life (larfs).
In fact, that type of transmission is regarded here as a dead certainty since understanding the nature of human touch is of intense interest to scientists insofar as they want to teach it to robos. There hasn't been so much mention of study of the neural networks which transmit such sensations to humans but we regard it as inevitable.
Evolution moves at varying speeds and think of it when cars started rolling off assembly lines right about when the Wright Brothers flew for the first time while much of the world was still dependent on horses.
The pace appears to be quickening and there are always two choices of being excited or afraid but we choose excited since we strongly believe wonderful things can come from this so long as we approach them with reason, equanimity, and a firm sense of ethics. The latter aspect goes beyond the scope but you can see it's coming and getting wild-eyed about it won't help. We adapt and we continue. Amazingly enough, humans are really good at that and we always have been.
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