Amazon: Priming the Pump?

Has anyone noticed that Amazon has changed its free shiping policy? Although its still a benchmark feature of their shopping experience, they recently (I dont know when) changed the option so that now, even if the item is in stock and ready to ship, they say they will wait 3 days before shipping the item (in addition to its "availability" time) using "free super-saver ground shipping". This is a departure from this option's original value, when Amazon would ship the item when it said it was available (24-36-72 Hours). Its a frustrating change for the customer, and one Amazon hopes will prompt customers to opt for the higher priced shipping options. I for one think its a mistake by Amazon, as 2 weeks ago it took 11 days for me to receive 2 in-stock items from their store.

Barnes and Noble however is reaching in to capture the market of customers who noticed. At Barnes and Noble.com they are guarantee-ing that orders which include free shipping will be delivered within 3 days of leaving B&N. When it comes to getting free shipping on books and media, now whose the leader? An excellent power-play by Barnes & Noble, a not so brilliant strategic move by Amazon.

Amazon seems bent on messing with the retail formula. Consumers have come to expect essentiallly the same shopping experience online as they do in traditional retail outlets. I would be more apt to order if I knew the company was getting product out the door quickly. Why intentionally hold onto things to coerce people to upgrade their shipping?

That's an extremely shortsighted policy. Imagine if I went into my local shoe store and found a pair of shoes I liked that were in stock. But when I went to buy them, the store employee tells me that I'll have to wait 3 days before he'll go in the back to get them for me unless I want to upgrade the service. Huh?!

i can beat that: my amazon.ca order arrived yesterday; my email announcing that it had shipped arrived today.

You know, I cant say that Amazon.com will change a thing about its current shipping options. Think of it this way, people are fickle, they'll balk and go elsewhere the minute Amazon.com stops running the Super Saver option. Some of the other online competitors already offer similar Super Saver options, and, with Borders sending out 25% off cupons, I would think Amazon would be hard pressed to kill one of its most successful carrots.

I've been waiting since March 31st for Amazon to ship two in-stock items. Right now, they say they're going to send it between April 18th and 20th for arrival a week or so later.

To me, it seems like they're just trying to coax me into getting Prime. It's a bit annoying because, as a graduate student, I spend upwards of $1,000 on books, from Amazon a year. I've usually been happy to get the books in a week or so but I've now started browsing BN.com.

While it may be a ploy to get you to upgrade your shipping, I have another theory. This may have been obvious to the rest of you, but I would bet that Super Saver Shipping is based on container fullness, where regular shipping is not.

For example, lets say you get regular shipping. Amazon might say "Since you paid for it, we won't wait until we have a full trailer for the shipper to pick up. Your shipment will go out with the everyday pickup."

When you get Super Saver Shipping, they may say "If you want to save money at the cost of speed of delivery, that's fine. What we'll do is we'll batch it into a trailer, and when that trailer is full, UPS can come pick it up." That way Amazon will pay container load pricing, instead of less than container load (LCL) pricing. They probably overschedule based on some mathematical model that estimates how long it will take to fill up the trailer.

Just my swag at it!