The Bigger Economic Meaning Of Amazon Prime Day

In addition to the two directly connected to Bloomington, MN’s Mall of America, over fifty hotels are within a 10-minute radius of what some describe as the “Megamall.” The abundance of hotels near what is a globally prominent shopping center is no coincidence.

In truth, it’s evidence of how many patrons of the Mall of America don’t reside nearby. The Megamall is a shopping destination, including for those who drive long distances and even fly to visit its myriad stores, rides, restaurants, and so much more.

What does the Mall of America have to do with a column about Amazon Prime Day? Realistically very little, but also quite a lot. To see why, it’s useful to remember that the Mall of America wasn’t the only shopping locale created for consumers well beyond the metro area in which it was located.

Which is where Amazon Prime Day enters the picture. Stop and think about how profoundly Amazon has changed the shopping experience. While a resident of Stillwater, OK once had to drive almost five hours for the greatly expanded variety of Dallas shops and malls, and New Orleanians formerly had to drive over five hours for Houston’s far more expansive shelves, now citizens of small towns and smaller cities alike can fulfill nearly every consumptive desire from the comfort of home. Stop and think about that.

For the longest time “just ship it” was the stuff of rich people. Shopping for clothes and other items in stores, they frequently couldn’t be bothered with the hassle of bringing market goods home, particularly while traveling, the cost of shipping be damned. As for the rest of us, shipping was a substantial cost. Call it a luxury. Which is the beauty of profit-motivated progress, or one of many beauties. The profit motivated make common what used to be a luxury. Amazon looms large here.

Nowadays Amazon Prime members don’t even need to bother with “just ship it.” They know from their Prime membership that whatever they order will arrive within two days, but frequently one day or even less.

Considering Prime Day itself, it’s now defined in days, with 96 hours of shopping discounts on almost literally “everything” from the everything store. Which is quite the change. Families used to take shopping trips that could be measured in days, while now they just tap on their phone throughout the day, and as needs come up. No driving, gasoline, meal stops, hotels, or flying required.

Not only do would-be shoppers no longer have to endure the expense of travel to shopping locales that never offered even a fraction of what can be had on Amazon with a mouse click, it’s worth adding that “the getting” on Amazon is quite a bit cheaper than it was back in the days of traveling or flying long distances to shop. Precisely because Amazon is buying for enormous numbers of shoppers in the U.S., and for that matter the world, it can command the lowest of prices from producers willing to substantially shrink their margins in return for abundance of buyers brought together by Amazon.

Has Amazon and its Prime Day put The Mall of America and others like it out of business? Certainly not. About this, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos never expected to replace brick and mortar in the first place. Instead, Amazon has made the Megamall and others much better, which is what competition always does.

As you’re reading this, Amazon Prime Day is in full swing. And it’s worth thinking about for reasons beyond low prices. What a different world it is thanks to Amazon Prime Day. What a better one too.