Can the Internet bring down Wal-Mart?

[bobweaver]

The CBS Evening News of Dec. 20, 2004 had a story about how brick-and-mortar retail stores are having a dismal Christmas season, while online retailers are getting so much business that some of them can't keep up with it. Is this the answer, finally, of how to defeat Wal-Mart and the Wal-Martization of the world? Why not buy everything you need online now (obviously not from Wal-Mart.com) and vow never to set foot in a Wal-Mart or a Sam's Club. The thing that gives Wal-Mart so much power is the enormous flow of money into their cash registers. Do everything you can to stop that flow. Buying online makes a lot of sense nowadays with the high cost of gasoline. I read an estimate that the true cost of driving is now $1 per mile, on average, when you factor in all the costs of buying and owning a car. So if that store is 5 miles away, it would cost you $10 to drive there and back - compare this to the shipping charges on retail web sites. The higher gasoline prices rise the more it makes sense to shop online. And you have a far wider selection on the Internet than you can possibly have in any one city. Plus, you can support small, independent web sites (like my own, which I won't plug here, but I do run a one-man web site) and support the "little guy" instead of the multinational corporations. Last but not least, it's so damn easy now to order online and it saves a lot of time. I did 75% of my Christmas shopping online and it was so much better than driving, finding a parking space, running around from store to store, etc. Not to mention the fact that 10 cars driving to a store produce a lot more pollution than one UPS truck driving to 10 houses. Let Wal-Mart die of neglect and let the Internet thrive instead!

[merwin]

1. Very good... I bought most of my gifts online and from local retailers

n/t

[tinrobot]

2. Groceries

...still don't work over the internet.

Of course, I buy my groceries from a union store and the farmer's market. No Wal-Mart here.

[benburch]

6. In some plaves, there is a service called PeaPod.

Allows you to order all of your groceries via the net...

[bobweaver]

17. Vons is doing home delivery now (CA branch of Safeway stores)

[TO Kid]

27. Been in Toronto at least 2 years

Outfit called grocerygateway.com- you enter the order and after it's picked they call you to arrange delivery. There's also ebutcher.ca for meat only.

[Carolab]

3. Except you have to know who is behind the Internet companies

Are they Republican donors?

Do they utilize cheap foreign labor?

Do they exist on U.S. soil? Use U.S. labor?

Whose products do they sell?

I prefer to shop my local merchants. Small business is what really builds the community and what Wal-Mart is destroying.

Shop your local privately owned stores.

[TheDebbieDee]

30. That's an excellent point........

lookout for any connections to AmWay and other RW supporters.

[Johnny Noshoes]

4. Sam' Club

I've heard a commercial for Sam's Club running on Air America. I tried to email them about it and my mail bounced back. I'm guessing I probably did something to screw up the mail but I still think they shouldn't be running that ad.

[NuttyFluffers]

8. oh i think it's funny that they advertise there.

especially back to back with shows from AAR that criticize Wal-Mart in the same hour. it's hilarious! let 'em waste their money, most liberals i feel can't be paid to care about Wal-mart -- and doubly so when their favorite shows are in the same breath denouncing it.

:)

yes wal-mart, speak to deaf ears! i'd gladly waste your time and money :D

[Johnny Noshoes]

24. Yeah I suppose

you have a point. It is pretty funny how these corporate morans don't get irony :D

"when you trade your values for the hope of winning, you end up losing and having no values....so you keep losing." Howard Dean 2004

[bobweaver]

18. It's ironic that you can order the book "The Republican Noise Machine..

...Right-Wing Media and How It Corrupts Democracy" ... at samsclub.com
It also says, "This product is covered by the SAM'S CLUB Member Satisfaction Guarantee..." So they are saying Wal-Mart (aka Sam's Club) is certain you will be satisified with that book.

[flygal]

5. BarnesandNoble.com baby - four copies of Jon Stewart's America

Having a Blue Christmas

[TheDebbieDee]

7. Support Martha Stewart, Political Prisoner.....

Shop at K-Mart instead!

[Johnny Noshoes]

25. A few years ago

I needed some extra cash to pay off some bills so I got a second job at the local K-Mart. Man talk about 90 days in hell. I don't know how people who really need the K-Mart or WalMart jobs make it. I have to respect anybody who has to work that kind of job - ESPECIALLY this time of the year- to earn a check.

"When you trade your values for the hope of winning, you end up losing and having no values....so you keep losing." Howard Dean 2004

[TO Kid]

28. Wonderful world of retail

All retailers, big and small, are pure hell to work for. I spent a couple of years managing a chain store and I still have flashbacks from it. The pay sucks even at the top- your average retail manager makes less than a clerk doing temp jobs for an agency.

[nine23]

9. I've found that...

...unless one lives in a very, very small town, it's easy to avoid Wal-Mart. Just don't go there. There is nothing - I repeat, NOTHING - that Wal-Mart has that is in any way EXCLUSIVE. It's all crap or household stuff one can get whilst shopping for food (ie. laundry detergent), or walking down your neighborhood's high street (Main Street). And you're supporting your friends and neighbors when you do...

If one lives in a very small town, then I could see shopping on line as making a difference. But don't forget: for people who shop at Wal-Mart, their lives are so boring it's a "day out" for them, and therein lies the problem - millions of dull consumers looking for some sort of validation.

[radwriter0555]

13. YES, SHOPPING has become a family event... can you imagine???

that just horrifies me. To think that americans have decided that a day blowing a paycheck at walmart qualifies as family time and a social event.

Just nasty.

[Johnny Noshoes]

33. I can't stand

going to malls or those big box stores - its like a whole "Stepford"
thing in those places. Every damn one looks like every other one. Here in NYC they "cleaned up" Times Square alright and made it nice and tourist friendly. It now looks just about like any other place USA. Okay so yeah it was pretty seedy in the 70's but NOW damn they're turning my city into a "theme park" :argh: So yeah to me shopping is NOT the meaning of life :eyes:

"When you trade your values for the hope of winning, you end up losing and having no values....so you keep losing." Howard Dean 2004

[The Zanti Regent]

10. folks, buy from COSTCO at http://www.costco.com

Stick it to Whore Mart!

[7th Generation VTer]

11. My local bookstore

Today I'm going to the Northshire Bookstore and buy most of my few inexpensive gifts there. I might pick up some anti-Bush stuff too -- they have lots of it. They've also circulated anti PATRIOT Act petitions and have said they will refuse to cooperate if the gov't demanded their customers purchase histories.

I love my bookstore!

[radwriter0555]

12. BUY LOCAL. Visit your local retailers, avoid the box stores, think out of

the box for holiday giving but for daily life as well.

We don't NEED a garage filled with toilet paper!

[SOteric]

14. All the biggest brick and mortar stores, - Walmart included

have online stores and UPS delivery as well.

I doubt the internet can bring down Wal-Mart when they've already positioned themselves to be part of it.

[bobweaver]

20. But... but... but... you have a clear choice on the internet, whereas in

rural areas and small towns that have been wal-martized, shoppers are effectively left with no feasible choice other than to go to the wal-mart. They would have to drive too far to get to any other store, because the local ones were put out of business by wal-mart. At least on the internet you have an equal choice of shopping at wal-mart.com or some other web site. There is no difference in the drive time or cost because there is no drive time or cost. Wal-Mart can effectively force you to buy from them by eliminating the competition in a small town or rural area, but they can never force you to type in "wal-mart.com" instead of some other web site. The price may be lower at wal-mart.com but that is the only advantage. They don't have the advantage of being the only physically close retailer.
 

[SOteric]

22. but, but, but... they do have the advantage

of being the only retailer who can save the locals in rural areas shipping costs by having it shipped to the store for pick up and sale there.

So...especially with larger, heavier items, it really does kind of overshadow the competition that way as well.

Of course, yes, anyone can pay the shipping and handling and order their kids bedroom furniture from K-mart or Target, or Fred's Internet Kidstuff.

[NuttyFluffers]

23. i'd rather pay the shipping and handling =D

i don't wanna pay extra in medical bills or damage my car by overloading it.
:)
i remember when my family tried to move by ourselves the backyard above ground spa. what a bad move! ha ha ha! we almost ended up killing ourselves. we left it on its side and hired movers
:D
never found savings on circumventing shipping costs for larger, heavier items. the risk is unnecessary. i'm just imagining poor families risking everything from a medical emergency or busting their prime vehicle getting them to work just to save a few bucks. a rather sad situation Wal-mart leaves them in, isn't it? poor people, how they are abused...

(see, every silver lining has its cloud! :D)

[Silverhair]

15. No. Wal-Mart is already one of the leading online sellers.

They are ahead of you on that one.

Sorry, I can't provide a link to back that one up. I can't remember where I came across it. However, you can check out their web site and see that they are already into online selling in a big way.

[bobweaver]

19. But you can choose not to buy from wal-mart.com, while the people in

rural areas and small towns that have been wal-martized are effectively left with no feasible choice other than to go to the wal-mart. They would have to drive too far to get to any other store because the local ones were put out of business by wal-mart. At least on the internet they have an equal choice of shopping at wal-mart.com or some other web site. The price may be lower at wal-mart.com but that is the only advantage. They don't have the advantage of being the only physically close retailer.

[clutchcargo]

16. I used to Love wal-mart and Target for their PRICES and selection--

However it became so obvious years ago that w-mart is killing the small business economy that our country was built on. I refuse to buy from any large chain even though I usually pay Quite a bit more. MOST people know of the destruction Wal-mart has wrought and they disdain it until it is time to buy something-----THEN they head straight for you know where because it is cheaper and easier!! I think it is called a CONVENIENT social conscience.

[ArkDem]

21. Wal Mart sells online.

[Zinfandel]

26. Just don't shop at Walmart, ever, there's no reason to...And

many reasons not to.

Talk to family and friends and explain why they should avoid ever shopping at Walmart.

[TexasChick]

29. I did find this site today. Don't know how effective it will be. And, it

doesn't cite whether each company it links to is either a Dem donating company or a Repuketard donating company. But, it does list only companies that make products here in the U.S. Maybe another DUer can tell me if they think there is something wrong with this site or not. Might help me in the long run to know whether this site is good or not.

http://www.usstuff.com/

[SteveIrving1]

31. I'll back that

After the incident with the local walmart were they took the money from peoples Christmas bonus to renovate the store, I haven't shopped there since.

[TexasChick]

34. Wha???

"Oh, Merry Christmas to you peons. We know you can't afford to live on what you make here, but hey, that's okay. We do so much here to help the community. Why, you can pitch in also to help pay for our renovations to the store, how's that, peasants."

[chaska]

32. By all means, but...

Poor people shop at W-mart. They often don't have computers and aren't usually terribly literate either. Walmart's clientele won't be affected by the internet. They will always go there. Those people - my relatives and your's - love walmart.

[marlakay]

35. Driving my husband crazy telling him where we can shop

I praise him highly when he says he bought gift cards at Costco for gas for a teen, books at Barnes & Noble, stuff online through the little guy stores (my husband likes such hard rock type stuff I am sure the stores are probably progressive types)

Is Apple as bad as the other computer places? I did buy IPOD for my daughter. Well I figure every little bit we do helps. We buy all our gas at Costco. I shop at Whole Foods. And we do NOT ever go into Walmart no matter the price.