Re: [projectvrm] Jet.com and it's smart cart

[Doc Searls < >]

This piece here 
<http://www.geekwire.com/2015/jet-com-launching-amazon-like-marketplace-50-monthly-membership-fee/>
 does a slightly better job of explaining what the company does.

So does this: 
<http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2015-01-07/amazon-vs-dot-jet-dot-com-marc-lore-aims-to-beat-bezos>.

The first (citing the second) explains,

> In a Bloomberg BusinessWeek story, Brad Stone reports today that Jet will 
> be part-Amazon and part-Costco, offering reduced prices to those willing to 
> pay $50 a year for access to the marketplace. (Coincidentally, it was 
> Stone, who wrote the book The Everything Store, which uncovered some of the 
> heavy-handed tactics that Amazon used to acquire Diapers.com.)
> 
> Jet.com anticipates selling just about everything that Amazon does — 
> clothes, books, and electronics, baby goods and athletic gear. But unlike 
> Amazon, which is free for anyone to use, customers will be expected to pay 
> a membership fee after a 90-day trial expires. In return, Jet is claiming 
> to offer prices that are 10 to 15 percent lower than anywhere else online.
> 
> Amazon charges customers $99 a year to be part of its club, which offers 
> free two-day delivery, but makes no promise when it comes to the price of 
> products. Costco charges $55 a year for an annual membership.
> 
> Jet explains that it can offer lower prices because it only plans to make 
> money on membership fees — it does not take a percentage of any of the 
> sales. The company also said savings will come from making the process more 
> transparent to the consumer, and offering more ways to save money.
> 
> Such options may include opting for ground shipping, instead of air, or 
> combining multiple orders into a single shipment. Customers will save even 
> more if they are willing to pay with a debit card, which collects fewer 
> transaction fees than a credit card. Items that are found locally will also 
> cost less than those that are shipped across the country.
> 
> “When we show you a product, it’s not because we are making money on it and 
> not because we are closing out a line. It’s because we think it’s a good 
> deal,” Lore told BusinessWeek.
> 
> Jet.com will mostly operate as a marketplace, like eBay or Alibaba, which 
> means it will have to partner with other retailers for products. That also 
> signals that Jet is unlikely to build its own warehouses, which represents 
> a huge cost savings.

Looks to me like an interesting business hack, but not especially vroomy.

BTW, the world still needs a universal shopping cart that belongs to the 
individual (like one’s domain, non-corporate browser and email belong to the 
individual). That would be fully vroomy. (In fact, I think it should be a 
browser feature.)

Doc

> On Aug 9, 2015, at 10:53 PM, Jim Pasquale 
> <
 >
>  wrote:
> 
> Vroommyy or just another creepy scam. No I didn't read their Term& 
> conditions. Not yet anyway.
> 
> http://www.forbes.com/sites/joeharpaz/2015/08/05/will-jet-coms-smart-cart-disrupt-ecommerce/2/
> 
> Sent from an iPad
>