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The main difference is the retail companies still vet the suppliers before letting them duke it out for shelf space.

Monster may have paid Best Buy to be on the shelf, but at least I have some guarantee that Best Buy actually bothered to check that the HDMI cable is actually an HDMI cable (and if it wasn't, would notice and pull it eventually).

Amazon lets anyone sell anything, and then takes a cut in multiple ways.

Remember when Amazon listed private label brands, like every retailer has done for decades if not longer, and there was a collective freak out?

I think the freak-out was that Amazon was leveraging its data to create copycat products.

I assume all businesses do this, before Amazon ever existed.

How many options are there for retail?

In the US, each area usually has Costco/Walmart/Target, Best Buy/Apple, Home Depot/Lowes, Staples/OfficeDepot, Kroger/Albertsons/regional grocer, Nordstrom/Macys/Kohls/Old Navy/Gap.