Jason Solarek picture
Jason Solarek @ Bridge Dec. 22, 2019 • 7:51 PM • 1,558 days ago
Jason Solarek picture
Jason Solarek @ Bridge Dec. 22, 2019 • 7:51 PM • 1,558 days ago

In the ‘age of Amazon,’ is your store a liability or asset? Walmart is banking on stores being the physical nexus points of the web.

Did your e-commerce business lose money last year, and you fret over this? Most indie store owners do, but losing money on e-commence is the name of the game as catching up to Amazon’s 25-year head start will take years and lots of losses. Proof: Walmart’s e-commerce operations lost $2b last year, shares the WSJ. Most indie stores will not be able to pursue this strategy--and these loses--because they don't have the money maker of AWS or access to cheap capital (including public markets / being publicly listed).

Walmart is expanding in:
+ Shipping industry
+ Advertising (Amazon’s adversing arm generated $3.6b is the most recent quarter; that’s about $14b a year)
+ Cloud computing (Amazon’s AWS arm generated $25b in first nine months of this year; that’s about $33b per year)
+ Health care

Scott Galloway, business leader, suggested that Walmart buy FedEx.

Oddly, Walmart may cut its digital entertainment arm Vudu just when that space is heating up with Disney+.