My wife won't shop there "because Walmart". It isn't rational, but it's a thing.
Edit: to clarify, my wife won't shop on the walmart website. The physical stores are a different topic.
The checkout lines are also usually 2-3x as long as Target, no matter how busy or not-busy it is (they more aggressively cut employee hours to the bare minimum required to function, I'd guess).
None of those apply online, though.
(which I understand means they aren't offering high enough pay and so on, but the staffing levels they maintain are an interaction of multiple factors, customer traffic, pricing expectations, etc., not just arbitrary cutting of hours)
Speaking for Lowes and Home Depot -- Yes, because they view the human element of their labor as inputs in a function to get as much labor as humanly cheap as possible, circumventing as many laws as possible, to increase shareholder value and corporate bonuses. Basically they treat their people as a liability. (If I have one anecdote that basically sums up Lowe's C-levels: They treat technology and people as a cost. When we asked 49,000 dollars to upgrade a server room that was practically a fire hazard, we had to pull teeth. When it came time to spend 21 million dollars to upgrade their private jetliner so that it could make it to China in one trip, instead of having to stop and refuel, they approved the cost unanimously, almost without thought. Money that amounts to basically a drop in the bucket to make your job, a core function of our daily operations, much better? Nah. 21 million so we can fly to China faster every time the need arises to find more workers to exploit for cheap labor and then resell here in America for 90% markup? Heck yes.)
Finally, I can't speak for Target because I have no idea about them.
The common element here: People, and how you treat them.
As the article stated, Amazon has become well known as being customer-centric almost to a fault. I am confident when ordering anything from Amazon because I know that returns are quick and painless.
Prime example: I ordered an expensive Toto toilet for my master bath remodel, and it arrived next-day for free. Even if the shipping cost was rolled into the price, I still paid $500 less than local suppliers. The contractor got the toilet fully installed the day of delivery and, during leak testing, we discovered a hairline crack in the one-piece ceramic tank. I contacted Amazon immediately and, the very next day, had a replacement Toto toilet on my doorstep and a UPS driver hauling the cracked toilet to his truck.
I can't see Walmart ever providing this type of customer support.
i'm the opposite at this point. the surge in counterfeit, or low quality chinese shit comingled with previously good listings on amazon, has pushed me to let my prime lapse after six years, and i simply don't trust amazon for things other than books at this point. maybe that's just me and the things i shop for (mostly <$50 purchases), but returning things through the mail is a fucking pain and a huge friction.
You could also read the reviews on listing for products such as the popular Yeti cooler mugs, and you'll find many people complaining about getting fakes (wrong color lid, etc.)
[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-20/apple-man...
*edited for minor typo
Here's one: http://a.co/iHNIttV
Some links in here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13924546
Pic used to sell fake Snuggie here: http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_bills/2016/12/how...
Screenshot of knockoff diaper listing: http://jenniferlabit.com/2016/07/21/counterfeit-baby-product...
Knockoff phone case: https://learntogrowwealthonline.com/does-amazon-sell-fake-pr...
Examples of stolen art listings: https://www.fusionidol.com/pages/artists-unite-against-amazo... and http://theartofvikki.com/stolen/stolen.php
Fake chargers: https://www.dailydot.com/news/amazon-marketplace-conterfeit-...
Knockoff pillow case: https://www.geekwire.com/2015/amazon-to-face-trial-over-knoc...
This one is just amusing: https://the-digital-reader.com/2016/07/20/amazons-counterfei...
Mini PCs with pirated Windows license: https://www.howtogeek.com/267701/i-got-scammed-by-a-counterf...
Fake Apple chargers: http://www.iphoneincanada.ca/news/counterfeit-apple-adapters...
Fake Birkenstocks: http://www.cnbc.com/2016/07/08/amazons-chinese-counterfeit-p...
I don't think I've ever bought a counterfeit product on Amazon.
I looked through all your links, and most of the counterfeit items had less than 100 reviews and almost all couldn't even get a 3 star rating. It's pretty easy to tell that those items are counterfeit actually.
And you cant even trust books https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13924546
If your stuff is relatively small item things, you can use their locker system to return items. It's somewhat better than going thru the postal system or UPS or such, but you'd still have to physically go to one.
Why isn't that rational? She must have a reason.
Just because you can quantify why you feel that way doesn't make it rational. I don't like spiders because they look scary. I've never been bitten by one or even threatened by one, but I still don't like them. That's an irrational fear, even though I can tell you exactly why I don't like them. If you don't like Walmart because of its customers or staff, refusing to shop online with them is irrational.
Yes, but why is the name association producing an aversion in this case?
If it's simply a matter of not wanting to support a company you find ethically dubious for example (which would perfectly describe Walmart), then it would be perfectly rational to want to avoid it and all its associated ventures.
Voting with your wallet and all that.
I would try it with some higher-end stuff first, relying on the same distribution system and then slowly moving the most popular online purchases over to it to ensure that the "walmart" feel is eliminated. I'd focus on a high end "organic produce" feel to the website.
Target did something similar with it's "Up&Up" store brand stuff, and they have done it with clothing lines as well.
The hard part is Walmart admitting to itself that it's image, particularly on the wealthy, online-shopping coasts, is not universally good, and slapping a wally-world star on things is going to drive a lot of good customers away.