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Amazon Prime is successful for the same reason Uber or Lyft are: instant gratification relative to alternatives. My mother, who lives in remote mountains in Ja

by ktamura 11y ago

Amazon Prime is successful for the same reason Uber or Lyft are: instant gratification relative to alternatives. My mother, who lives in remote mountains in Japan, is a die-hard Amazon Prime fan. Why? Because it manages to deliver any item to her place across many SKUs. It's more convenient -and often faster- for her to order something on Amazon than to drive 30 minutes to shop at the closest electronics shop. I've been amazed with how good Amazon's logistics is even in rural Japan. The elusive "aha" moment is actually not that complicated in theory: just provide value faster than alternatives while ensuring quality. In Uber/Lyft's case, it's a safe ride from A to Z arriving in a few minutes. In Amazon Prime's case, it's any merchandise on your doorstep. In AWS's case, it's computing resources at your fingertips in minutes. It's easier said than done =)

chinathrow 11y ago
The trick with Prime however is, that you pay a 100 bucks a year and then feel the urge to get something back in return - ie faster shipping against non-Prime customers, etc. Clever, Amazon, clever.
- copperx 11y ago
  Kind of obvious, but it depends on your personality. Last year I got Prime and bought a grand total of 1 item in the entire year -- mainly because I research most purchases and Amazon is frequently the most expensive place to get something.
  - rickyc091 11y ago
    Hmm, what are you purchasing that's more expensive than Amazon? Electronics and books are typically roughly the same cost. Household items are generally a little more expensive, but on some occasions it's the same or cheaper.
- douche 11y ago
  On the other hand, it doesn't take long to recoup that $100 worth of free, 2-day shipping, compared to the exorbitant rates that you used to have to pay for similar service from other retailers, or even $8-10 shipping and handling for standard shipping that catalogs used to charge.
  - wskinner 11y ago
    Assuming that you would have paid $8-$10 for that level of shipping before. If you're like me, you never would have paid extra for 2-day shipping, but when it's framed in the language of "free", everything changes.
    - douche 11y ago
      I'm not that old, and I remember when you had to pay for any level of shipping.
      - detaro 11y ago
        If you compare Amazon with Prime to Amazon without and don't care about the speed, you only save on shipping if you often order <30 €. So Amazon has that benefit over many other stores even if you do not pay for Prime. Shipping prices generally are interesting. I get that shipping isn't free, but often enough there really would be potential to optimize. E.g. Amazon ships what they can in small cardboard envelopes (stuff like USB drives, small cables, electronic parts, that kind of thing). Efficient and fast. Other sellers want 4.99 € shipping for that. Which, if I' buying stuff for 15-25 €, is a notable percentage of the price. (And yes, if you send me a big shipping box in which I have to dig through the packaging chips to find the product, then you probably paid close to that for shipping, but that really wasn't necessary) Or the one that also has stores, where you can either pay 5.99 € shipping or do store pickup. And I'm thinking "eh, the price is a bit cheaper than everywhere else, but they want more shipping. BUT I can easily pick it up myself and maybe even get it a bit quicker.". Change the shipping method, and discover that it now charges me no shipping, but increased the product price by 5.99 €. And which point I ordered somewhere else, didn't go to their (big, probably expensive) store and didn't have a chance to be tempted to buy some additional stuff there.
        pbhjpbhj 11y ago
        > (And yes, if you send me a big shipping box in which I have to dig through the packaging chips to find the product, then you probably paid close to that for shipping, but that really wasn't necessary) // At work I often ship ceramics [in the UK] - none of the couriers will insure it, the reason I'm told is that they all use overhead conveyors and so all parcels have to survive a 2m fall. Perhaps that's part of the reason for "overpacking". Another could be that it's observer bias; occasionally they run out of smaller boxes and so use a large one (necessitating lots of filler) and these occurrences get reported.
- tokenadult 11y ago
  That's just the sunk cost fallacy. A lot of us still comparison shop. I buy from other sellers, but Amazon often has better terms (more reliable delivery, for one) and better prices than the other sellers I shop at.
- peteretep 11y ago
  I never felt that obligation. However, I note that when I don't have Amazon Prime, I abandon a fair number of purchases at the shipping page because the extra shipping cost gives me pause.
  - natch 11y ago
    Which saves you money on unneeded purchase. Although there's no reason to abandon them, since there are no extra shipping costs if you simply choose the free option that's right there in front of you on the screen (well I can only speak for the US).
ac29 11y ago
> It's more convenient -and often faster- for her to order something on Amazon than to drive 30 minutes to shop at the closest electronics shop Prime delivers in under an hour in rural Japan?
- apendleton 11y ago
  No, I think it's a different sense of "faster" -- it delivers with less than an hour's effort on the part of the customer.
- peteretep 11y ago
  At least one flawed assumption you make here is that the drive can be executed immediately.
- ktamura 11y ago
  It's more like, my mother goes to the shop, the store person looks up the inventory, doesn't find the item, she asks them to order it, etc. Prime usually delivers within a day or two, unless heavy snow closes off the only semi-paved road leading up to her place :-)
brobinson 11y ago
I agree, but Prime's quality has been slipping a lot for me in the last year. My last few orders from Amazon have been a complete shitshow. I ordered something on Friday night, got offered free "same day shipping" with "guaranteed delivery on Saturday" because I'm a Prime member and it was over $35, Saturday at 5pm I get an email saying there was a problem with the order and now I'm guaranteed delivery on Sunday, and now I get an email that OnTrac claims my "business" was closed at 11am today. The leasing office here is open from 9am-7pm every day. OnTrac has a 25% success rate for delivering on the correct day for me so far. Even if the package does arrive tomorrow, I can't get it until Friday now because I'll be at work when the leasing office is open. I should have picked the free two day delivery so I would have gotten a far more reliable carrier like Fedex/UPS to deliver it today. I'm tempted to cancel my Prime membership after having had it since 2009 or so. It's awesome that it's reliable for your mother up in the mountains, though.
- eco 11y ago
  I've heard if you pester Amazon support enough they'll stop using a problematic carrier for your orders.
- Veratyr 11y ago
  Typically, if they don't meet a guaranteed delivery date, they'll give you a month extension of Prime to make up for it. If you make a few same-day orders during the busy holiday period, you can usually get enough misses to buy you another 6 months or so at least. As for OnTrac, they usually call me if they can't find me. Have you tried calling their support? Usually they're pretty helpful. The very few times they haven't delivered, the day they were meant to, I've called their helpline and they delivered a second time at ~9PM that same day (while I'm home).
  - brobinson 11y ago
    Interesting, I didn't know about the extension. They owe me a few months in that case! Thanks for the suggestions about calling their support. I'm going to try that now. EDIT: they're closed. :( I think in the future I'll just have stuff sent to an Amazon locker nearby and I'll pick it up myself...

by ktamura 11y ago

chinathrow 11y ago

The trick with Prime however is, that you pay a 100 bucks a year and then feel the urge to get something back in return - ie faster shipping against non-Prime customers, etc. Clever, Amazon, clever.

copperx 11y ago
Kind of obvious, but it depends on your personality. Last year I got Prime and bought a grand total of 1 item in the entire year -- mainly because I research most purchases and Amazon is frequently the most expensive place to get something.
- rickyc091 11y ago
  Hmm, what are you purchasing that's more expensive than Amazon? Electronics and books are typically roughly the same cost. Household items are generally a little more expensive, but on some occasions it's the same or cheaper.
douche 11y ago
On the other hand, it doesn't take long to recoup that $100 worth of free, 2-day shipping, compared to the exorbitant rates that you used to have to pay for similar service from other retailers, or even $8-10 shipping and handling for standard shipping that catalogs used to charge.
- wskinner 11y ago
  Assuming that you would have paid $8-$10 for that level of shipping before. If you're like me, you never would have paid extra for 2-day shipping, but when it's framed in the language of "free", everything changes.
  - douche 11y ago
    I'm not that old, and I remember when you had to pay for any level of shipping.
    - detaro 11y ago
      If you compare Amazon with Prime to Amazon without and don't care about the speed, you only save on shipping if you often order <30 €. So Amazon has that benefit over many other stores even if you do not pay for Prime. Shipping prices generally are interesting. I get that shipping isn't free, but often enough there really would be potential to optimize. E.g. Amazon ships what they can in small cardboard envelopes (stuff like USB drives, small cables, electronic parts, that kind of thing). Efficient and fast. Other sellers want 4.99 € shipping for that. Which, if I' buying stuff for 15-25 €, is a notable percentage of the price. (And yes, if you send me a big shipping box in which I have to dig through the packaging chips to find the product, then you probably paid close to that for shipping, but that really wasn't necessary) Or the one that also has stores, where you can either pay 5.99 € shipping or do store pickup. And I'm thinking "eh, the price is a bit cheaper than everywhere else, but they want more shipping. BUT I can easily pick it up myself and maybe even get it a bit quicker.". Change the shipping method, and discover that it now charges me no shipping, but increased the product price by 5.99 €. And which point I ordered somewhere else, didn't go to their (big, probably expensive) store and didn't have a chance to be tempted to buy some additional stuff there.
      - pbhjpbhj 11y ago
        > (And yes, if you send me a big shipping box in which I have to dig through the packaging chips to find the product, then you probably paid close to that for shipping, but that really wasn't necessary) // At work I often ship ceramics [in the UK] - none of the couriers will insure it, the reason I'm told is that they all use overhead conveyors and so all parcels have to survive a 2m fall. Perhaps that's part of the reason for "overpacking". Another could be that it's observer bias; occasionally they run out of smaller boxes and so use a large one (necessitating lots of filler) and these occurrences get reported.
tokenadult 11y ago
That's just the sunk cost fallacy. A lot of us still comparison shop. I buy from other sellers, but Amazon often has better terms (more reliable delivery, for one) and better prices than the other sellers I shop at.
peteretep 11y ago
I never felt that obligation. However, I note that when I don't have Amazon Prime, I abandon a fair number of purchases at the shipping page because the extra shipping cost gives me pause.
- natch 11y ago
  Which saves you money on unneeded purchase. Although there's no reason to abandon them, since there are no extra shipping costs if you simply choose the free option that's right there in front of you on the screen (well I can only speak for the US).

ac29 11y ago

> It's more convenient -and often faster- for her to order something on Amazon than to drive 30 minutes to shop at the closest electronics shop Prime delivers in under an hour in rural Japan?

apendleton 11y ago
No, I think it's a different sense of "faster" -- it delivers with less than an hour's effort on the part of the customer.
peteretep 11y ago
At least one flawed assumption you make here is that the drive can be executed immediately.
ktamura 11y ago
It's more like, my mother goes to the shop, the store person looks up the inventory, doesn't find the item, she asks them to order it, etc. Prime usually delivers within a day or two, unless heavy snow closes off the only semi-paved road leading up to her place :-)

brobinson 11y ago

I agree, but Prime's quality has been slipping a lot for me in the last year. My last few orders from Amazon have been a complete shitshow. I ordered something on Friday night, got offered free "same day shipping" with "guaranteed delivery on Saturday" because I'm a Prime member and it was over $35, Saturday at 5pm I get an email saying there was a problem with the order and now I'm guaranteed delivery on Sunday, and now I get an email that OnTrac claims my "business" was closed at 11am today. The leasing office here is open from 9am-7pm every day. OnTrac has a 25% success rate for delivering on the correct day for me so far. Even if the package does arrive tomorrow, I can't get it until Friday now because I'll be at work when the leasing office is open. I should have picked the free two day delivery so I would have gotten a far more reliable carrier like Fedex/UPS to deliver it today. I'm tempted to cancel my Prime membership after having had it since 2009 or so. It's awesome that it's reliable for your mother up in the mountains, though.

eco 11y ago
I've heard if you pester Amazon support enough they'll stop using a problematic carrier for your orders.
Veratyr 11y ago
Typically, if they don't meet a guaranteed delivery date, they'll give you a month extension of Prime to make up for it. If you make a few same-day orders during the busy holiday period, you can usually get enough misses to buy you another 6 months or so at least. As for OnTrac, they usually call me if they can't find me. Have you tried calling their support? Usually they're pretty helpful. The very few times they haven't delivered, the day they were meant to, I've called their helpline and they delivered a second time at ~9PM that same day (while I'm home).
- brobinson 11y ago
  Interesting, I didn't know about the extension. They owe me a few months in that case! Thanks for the suggestions about calling their support. I'm going to try that now. EDIT: they're closed. :( I think in the future I'll just have stuff sent to an Amazon locker nearby and I'll pick it up myself...