Target and Walmart Need to Stop Trying to Be Amazon
Ranting into the internet abyss about Target's evolving business model
Both Target and Walmart seem to be trying to copy Amazon. They’re both bringing heaps of third party sellers onto their online shopping experience, presumably in order to massively increase the number of items for sale on their websites. I’ve noticed this recently when searching through Target’s app -- and I hate it!
Now there’s an argument to be made that Walmart may be one of the few companies that are positioned to challenge Amazon’s dominance in online retail. So there may be a window for Walmart to succeed here. Especially considering their massive customer base, they may have enough leverage to turn Walmart + into a true Amazon Prime competitor.
However, both Target and Walmart provide an important and valuable service by having direct input over the products that they’re selling. They act as a de facto regulator of all the suppliers of their merchandise. By items appearing on Target’s website, that previously meant Target was selling and taking responsibility for the merchandise. For many Target searches now, that’s no longer the case.
Whenever I search for anything on Target, I now find myself filtering for items available “in-store” because I know anything they carry in store is a more curated set of options.
If I search for something trivial on Amazon, I’ll find a mountain of options. Take a recent search of mine for “bag clips” for instance.You’ll find 7 full pages with +50 results on each page for bag clips. Have you ever heard of the choice paradox? I don’t want nearly 400 options for different bag clips! I want about 3-5 options, max.
My plea to Target is please stop trying to Amazon! As a loyal and long-time customer, I continue to go to you because you’re not Amazon. I have much more faith in the products I buy from Target. And I know if there’s a problem with my purchase, I can easily return the item. Honestly I think Target has been doing some great things with their app and services. Their order online and pick-up in store service is pretty seamless and very convenient. I just hope they keep their product selection curated!