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Warren Buffett Drops Walmart -- Signals Death of Retail as we know it

posted by on Thursday February 16 2017, @06:20AM   Printer-friendly
from the the-wizard-of-omaha-is-never-wrong dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

When Buffet speaks, people listen:

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has sold off $900 million of Walmart stock, choosing to invest billions in airlines instead.

The sale, which leaves Buffett with nearly no shares in Walmart, comes as the US's largest traditional retailer has been rushing to catch up to Amazon and other online competitors.

Amazon's market value is now $356 billion, compared with Walmart's $298 billion. Last year, Buffett acknowledged that traditional brick-and-mortar retailers were struggling in the face of competition from the e-commerce giant.

Yes, but is he still long on Big Cola?

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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by WillR on Thursday February 16 2017, @05:44PM

    by WillR (2012) on Thursday February 16 2017, @05:44PM (#467893)
    Every grocery is going to have a few bananas that turn brown and a few pieces of meat that are mostly fat and gristle. In ye olden tymes when people went to the grocery store and picked their meat and produce in person, they would have to throw bad items out or mark them way down. Adding a delivery business gives them a chance to move the crap out the door at full price!
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  • (Score: 2) by RedGreen on Thursday February 16 2017, @06:52PM

    by RedGreen (888) on Thursday February 16 2017, @06:52PM (#467915)

    "Adding a delivery business gives them a chance to move the crap out the door at full price!"

    Indeed my thoughts on it as well. I really cannot see people going for it, it is not like we are past the point of selecting your own at this time. Now durable goods you can wait for like toothpaste, detergent, canned goods ... yeah I can see that happening and would go for it myself in heartbeat if it saved me some cash. Not the fresher stuff where time elapsed matters and the quality of what you are getting is paramount no way.

    --
    "I modded down, down, down, and the flames went higher." -- Sven Olsen

  • (Score: 2) by Wootery on Friday February 17 2017, @09:18AM

    by Wootery (2341) on Friday February 17 2017, @09:18AM (#468146)

    Adding a delivery business gives them a chance to move the crap out the door at full price!

    But you're ignoring repeat custom and the fact that there's a functioning competitive marketplace here.

    • If you screw your customers over whenever they order a delivery, they'll just stop ordering deliveries. They've got by fine shopping in-store so far, after all.
    • If you screw your customers over whenever they order a delivery, they won't be your customers for much longer. Your competitors will be glad to take over for you.

    In theory, there could even be a market for third-party deliverers. Can't see a reason I wouldn't be able to set up Wootery's WalMart Grocery Delivery - Look, No Mould! and compete directly with WalMart on the delivery service.