If you had asked me five years ago if I'd be regularly ordering from walmart.com instead of amazon.com, I'd have thought it unlikely. But here I am -- I don't have to worry about counterfeits as long as it's sold & shipped by Walmart, and I can get same-day delivery (usually within an hour or two) for the cost of a tip. Their inventory is different (many more consumer staples, at better prices; many fewer random long-tail products), but it's replaced maybe 1/4 of my Amazon purchases. I also order from target.com once in a while; I never ever used to.
Amazon has not lost, but it is definitely losing its unique edge.
I bought and returned:
- Meta Quest headset / it arrived in a shipping box that was dented, with the quests product box damaged, and when I went to try it the system wouldn’t launch apps
- a usb memory card reader that advertised support for older Sony memory sticks but wouldn’t read them
- an electric kettle that burned my hand to pour water out of at a normal angle for use and despite high reviews on the product page
Those are three examples in the last couple of months…
Worth noting that the comment you reply to calls out buying only "sold & shipped by Walmart" items, as opposed to those from other vendors like your case.
Fair. When I bought the item I wrote about, I had no idea it wasn't direct from Walmart. IMO, as bad as Amazon does, they make who you are buying from very clear.
Amazon has not lost, but it is definitely losing its unique edge.