Brick and mortar retail appears to be in a death spiral now, largely of its own making. More and more places have many items effectively unreachable now behind locked cabinets and are severely understaffed — meaning that one would have to spend 10-45 minutes (or more) hunting down already-harried staff to unlock the cabinet so you can get your laundry detergent or Q-Tips.

This is not a smart nor winning strategy and is very much MBA thinking. It means I will be unlikely to buy much from Target or Walmart again if I can get it online. Also, because of this chronic understaffing the lines are extremely long. And I sure won’t stand in them. Many people will make the same decision.

So, Amazon it is I guess. Don’t gotta stand in no lines or wait an eternity to have a cabinet unlocked. And what I want comes right to my door without me doing anything. Sounds vastly superior to the alternative that exists now.