Reversing the Flow of Packages

While I have received a number of packages from Amazon and other retailers (i.e. Allen Edmonds) lately, I have also been sending a lot of packages out as well. In fact, I have been sending out more packages and items overall than I have been receiving. In addition to the returns process (which has been pretty good despite what some have said about Amazon customer service) because of clothes being absurdly smaller than that which is stated on the tag and overall descriptions not quite matching up with what I received, I have also been collecting the unused items, unwatched DVDs, and unplayed video games from around the house and selling them to Amazon for credit.

At this point I think we have gotten rid of about five or six moving boxes worth of stuff that, in the future, I won’t have to haul from place to place, store here or there, and open and close trying to find that one misplaced item. Putting in the time and selling these items now is saving us a lot of time in the future and putting a little bit of credit in our account as well. Of course, that credit did lead to some of the aforementioned returns so really it is just a vicious cycle. But at least shipping is free across the board.

That credit has also served to help us get a head start on buying some of the Hanukkah gifts for our son. Nothing big but some toys that we have been eyeing since we either saw them in a store or at someone else’s home. However, while we have gotten a bit of a jumpstart on our holiday buying (definitely not the first time we have been in this situation) it has also introduced another issue. Remember that vicious cycle I mentioned earlier. Well, we may have gotten rid of a lot of stuff but we also have a lot of stuff coming in which is currently stacked in a few boxes along the back wall of my office.

It is actually a pretty eclectic pile as there are toys, home upgrades, gifts for family members, shoes, and a completely overhauled wardrobe. And those are just the things that I can remember or see when I glance over. Thankfully, the pile is a bit deceiving as the packaging takes up a bulk of the space, the clothes are replacing ones that I have already donated, and the gifts will be handed out in about a month so it really isn’t that bad and we are still saving space. Of course, I don’t expect this to last and I am sure I will find myself writing about this again like I am doing now and I have done in the past. But, until then, we will certainly enjoy a little extra space.

That Plan Didn’t Work

It is pretty obvious to my coworkers, neighbors, and anyone who reads this blog that I do a lot of ordering from Amazon. The selection is good, prices are reasonable, the shipping is usually fast, and I have never had an issue regarding the occasional return. I have had a solid overall experience with Amazon over the years which is why I was interested in the Subscribe & Save program. Pretty straight forward… select a few items that you would like to receive on a regular basis (i.e. coffee, paper towels, dish soap, baby formula, etc.), set the delivery date, and have them automatically show up at the door on the date you specified. At least that is how it is supposed to work.

A couple of weeks before we left on our Virginia vacation, my wife and I put a list together of the items that we would been upon our return. We could just as easily pick them up from the grocery store the following day but this offered a convenient and cost effective alternative… it is also nice to have all the bulky items on the doorstep rather than my wife having to pick them up while shopping with our son. So I logged into my Amazon account, selected the items, and adjusted the delivery date for the Monday after we got back.

When we pulled into the parking lot and approached the front door, we could see that there was a note left for us. Before we had a chance to open it, our neighbors stopped us and let us know that they moved our packages inside their house so they wouldn’t get wet. I wasn’t sure what packages could have arrived as the deliveries were scheduled for tomorrow, nothing else had been ordered from any other website, and our mail was on hold until the following day. When they emerged with a rather large box in hand I knew that Amazon screwed up at least some part of the order (I double checked later to ensure that it was their mistake and not mine).

When I went to the post office before work the following morning I found the rest of the items that we put on order. Not one thing was delivered on the day specified so now I am wondering if it is worth the aggravation to keep the subscriptions active. While normally it wouldn’t be an issue we almost had a serious problem… imagine if the baby formula were sitting out the in 90+ degree sun for nearly a week? Thankfully, this time, there were no sun baked boxes. I really have to think about this for a while but it just goes to show that sometimes you can be too fast with your shipping. After all, no one likes premature packages.

Note: Amazon customer service is of little help with this issue offering not explanation or honest apology (of course I could only understand about half of what they were saying).  

Mixed Opinion About Amazon

I have been shopping on Amazon for years now and to date really haven’t had any issues with the items that I have ordered. Actually, it has been a great resource to find some of the more obscure items that most stores don’t carry particularly when it comes to hard to find books. Additionally, the shipping has always been reasonable which is why I have preferred Amazon over other sites like Abe Books.

It continues to be a great place for one stop shopping offering a wide variety of items across numerous categories and from multiple vendors. When comparing one item over another or even on brand over another has been a great resource and, at least in the past, the prices have been the best around. However, things change and Amazon is slowly becoming just another place to shop with not guarantee as to best price and soon without the same variety that I have enjoyed up to this point.

Over the last couple of months, there have been a few stories that have come to light that have but a slight damper on the current and future shopping experience on the site. In addition to the general flux regarding the marketplace (non Amazon products) and whether or not the storefronts will remain beyond this year, there was recently a price fixing scheme uncovered that explained, at least on some products, the lack of competitive pricing of those items not offered directly from Amazon. Makes sense, with price no longer the main driver, why many retailers are willing to price match products sold and shipped by Amazon but not in the general marketplace. I guess this is a big reason why there are other sites that are easily beating the Amazon site as a whole in the pricing game. 

However, with all of that said, I still find myself purchasing a good amount from the site (and my coworkers can attest to the piles of packages that I get on occasion). There are still some moderately priced items, the general availability is still good, shipping is free (most of the time), and the convenience of being able to order a quick item or two while at the office is still key to my continued use. Actually, this is only one of the two main drivers of my continued patronage with the other being the benefits of Prime membership.

I am generally not a big proponent of the membership services offered by Amazon and the like but the video and music benefits have been worth the $100 per year (it helps that a lot of the movies have been watched on a free Kindle). The free video content has been utilized not just at home but on the road during business trips as well. I don’t mind waiting a year or two to watch a ‘new’ movie so it is nice to have free access to the entire prime library. I have also found that when I have ordered DVDs during the holidays that it, many times, comes with free prime access as well. An ancillary perk has been that of free 2-day shipping which has come in handy when I order that occasional item.

Overall, while things have changed and it is no longer the site that I first started using years ago, it is still a decent place to find the items that you are looking for and it is a good resource to compare prices (and match prices). While the purchasing of physical products may no longer be my primary use of the site, the value still exists in the access to a tremendous library of digital content through my prime membership. There are other sites that I go to if I want to find a better deal and in some instances there are a few physical stores where I know the prices will be better. It really is amazing to think about how much has changed over the years and where we now find the value at different places such as on Amazon.

Packages And Returns

It seems as though there is one package or another that arrives at the office on a daily basis. All different shapes, sizes, and weights. Some business and others personal (especially around the holidays). Also a common sights is the occasional box that is put aside to be picked up and returned to where it came from. I have heard all the reasons for send something back even though I rarely do so myself from wrong size or color to poor quality, wrong item all together, or arriving too late and everything in between.

Every time I see one of those packages heading out the door I can’t help but think about the cost of those returns and how the “free returns” policy isn’t really a free service as those anticipated costs are factored into the price of the object. When I looked into the data behind returns (focusing on the online side of things) I was taken aback by the percentage… in 2013, The Wall Street Journal found that nearly a third (33%) of all online purchases were returned for one reason or another. That is a lot of money spend on “free returns”.

Beyond the money it just seems like a pain in the what to have to go through that process and I tried finding some more information on what impact it has on the retailer. From a recent survey I found the following statistics:

• 54% of respondents stated that the reason for returning an item purchased online or by phone is because the item is the incorrect size or color
• 97% of respondents stated that the return process is important to their future intentions to shop with a retailer
• 73% of respondents who receive an incorrect item after already returning it once stated that they are much less likely to shop with that retailer online or by phone again for future purchases
• 45% of respondents who have experienced continuous return process issues with particular retailers stated that they have limited shopping with that retailer altogether (both online and in-store)
• 26% of respondents expect the correct item to be shipped to them within one to two days after returning the incorrect item

While I rely more on the end cost of the item and tend to put up with these errors, it seems as though I am among the minority. But it makes me think more about the disconnect that many people have from the products they buy while maintaining the “I see it now and I want it now” mentality. While I prefer going into a store and buying the items that I want or need, online is an inexpensive alternative to get the same thing at a much better price. I wonder how many of those in the above survey could have avoided the return had they seen the color in person and determined if something ran large or small while trying it on in the store.

We have to remember that while online shopping is convenience and cheaper, the in-store experience is sometimes worth the ten minutes out of your day and ten cents out of your pocket. Heck, sometimes it is cheaper to buy in the store if you simply talk to the sales person, manager, or owner. That little bit of time can end up saving you a lot of aggravation if not money and if people stop returning so much stuff online it might even drive down some of those “low prices” even further.

Psycho Cyber Monday

Over the last couple of days I have done a bit of online shopping to fill out the rest of the gifts my wife and I have been meaning to pick up for the holidays. It was also a good time to pick up the Secret Santa (or as I call it the Hidden Hanukkah Harry) gift for the person in my office whose name I picked out of a bowl last week. While we were limited in our gift giving last year and we still are this year as well it seems as though the discounts are significantly steeper this year than in any other year I can remember.

Between general coupons and sale prices on specific items the prices seemed to have been at least 50% below the usual cost. Some items were around 90% off. Maybe they were last year’s style or a step behind in the evolution of technology but it doesn’t bother me and you really can’t tell unless you study the products over and over again. So while we may have gone into this shopping season thinking that we were going to spend a bit more, it looks like the budget will remain relatively the same.

One of the interesting things that came about this season is the announcement byAmazon.com regarding the future use of drones for thirty minute delivery. While it is interesting to hear grand ideas being proposed, some would even say a little nuts, it make you wonder if these people have really given enough thought as to the logistics of such a project. In this particular instance, beyond the FAA, regulation, and security issues surrounding such a drone program what is the communications network going to look like to support this endeavor? Based on my experience, this is something that would need a kinetic mesh network (look it up, it is the best option).

It’s the same mentality that overcomes many people during this holiday season when people head into the retail trenches with grand ideas of getting the best possible gift while spending as little money as possible. Inevitably, somewhere along the line, if the right systems and limitations are not in place all those good intentions seem to evaporate. The timing has to be right, the mentality has to be ardent, and the finances have to make sense.

But, if everything is in place, and the right steps are taken, these kinds of grandiose endeavors can be successful and tremendously profitable. Think about the meeting of these two worlds. Image sitting on the train on your way home. You place an order for an ink cartridge you need to get some work done that night. You select the 30 minutes delivery option and by the time you get home you are ready to go. With such a sharp increase in the success of online and mobile sales, the hyper-expedited shipping option could be a game changer in future holiday shopping seasons.

However, I worry. Essentially, the greatest beneficiary of such a program would be the consumer while the greatest liability to such a program is the consumer. If someone is willing to tase a fellow human being in a store I doubt they would have any issue with taking out a drone.