A site like Amazon is always going to be better than a local shop if you already know exactly what you want.
Local shops offer human curation instead of algorithmic recommendation, and create situations where you can stumble into something that you would have never even thought to search for.
If this isn't a way you like to shop that's fine of course, but it's something that a lot of other people enjoy. Personally, I loathe algorithms that recommend things to me based on what I've already consumed, and certainly hope we don't ever lose our local bookstores.
ditto this. amazon, in its current form, will never be able to emulate a brick and mortar bookstore. a dedicated staff with exceptional customer service will curate books and recommend books that an algorithm will never catch.
also, local bookstores tend be an integral part of the local, geographic community, where you can engage with likeminded folks who live nearby. amazon can't do that in 2020.
and, amazon has so much power that they force publishers to offer lower prices. that's bad for your margins if you're a publisher and causes the quality of book to go down since they're gonna want to sell more of what sells. what sells well doesn't necessarily mean better quality. i don't want the good publishers to go out of business.
and! amazon can't do readings and book signings. if you're not into that, then ok, but book signings are very important for a thriving literary culture.
keep buying on amazon if you want to save money but consider throwing a few bucks to your local independent from time to time, please
Local shops offer human curation instead of algorithmic recommendation, and create situations where you can stumble into something that you would have never even thought to search for.
If this isn't a way you like to shop that's fine of course, but it's something that a lot of other people enjoy. Personally, I loathe algorithms that recommend things to me based on what I've already consumed, and certainly hope we don't ever lose our local bookstores.