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The argument isn't that Amazon is making things hard on consumers. It's that they are killing brands on a battlefield they control absolutely. Think of it from

The argument isn't that Amazon is making things hard on consumers. It's that they are killing brands on a battlefield they control absolutely. Think of it from the brand perspective. CVS pays you to stock their product on their shelves, so while they compete with you, they also send you money every month regardless. On the other hand, you have to pay Amazon to include your products in their catalog. So while they compete with you, you pay them for the privilege. And everything you do to innovate, they steal.

dmoy 8y ago
Right I see the argument, but I don't get why it's a valid argument. I just don't get why this is news. Every retailer I've shopped at in the last year does this.
hakfoo 8y ago
I find, across the board, Amazon often feels like their incentives don't align with those of a customer. They're always trying to push Prime (and to a lesser extent their video and music service) which represents extra clicks to sale. It's a significant auto-renewing commitment, not a $5 casual impulse add-on-- repeatedly dangling it in front of me and hoping I misclick into it borders on a dark pattern. I'd love to see a big one-click "I am not interested do not bother me further" button. Everything about their checkout funnel is contrary to modern best practices. Fields are oddly arranged compared with most other ecommerce sites, and once you reach a certain point, the normal navigation disappears. I guess this is designed to trap the user with no way out but purchase, but it makes it harder to compare items, especially when you're trying to find out on shipping (see below). Shipping is a mess to deal with. "You need to spend $25 for free shipping, but these items don't count". "These items can ONLY be purchased with an order of other items that hit the free-shipping threshold." "These items can only be purchased with Prime." There's no easy "estimate shipping" button without going several pages into checkout. These sort of complexities probably are engineered to steer customers towards buying the items fulfilled by them to avoid the pitfalls. I'd also wonder if their brands "accidentally" do well because of how bad their product categorization is. Nobody else is selling AmazonBasics products, so the single listing gets all the ratings and sales volume. Meanwhile, the name brand has 30 slightly different poorly arranged listings all overlapped.
- autokad 8y ago
  I'm an absolute luddite when it comes to shopping online, but I found Amazon to be one of the easiest. i throw lots of stuff in my cart, and then pull things away at the end based off shipping cost/time. I have had shopping carts open for years. I also like the wish list and buy again options. When I order an air purifier, amazon reminds me I might need to buy extra filters, stuff like that. many times i have ordered stuff from websites, and key components that make what i ordered useful were not part of the order.
- manigandham 8y ago
  > I find, across the board, Amazon often feels like their incentives don't align with those of a customer. That's a strange interpretation. Their checkout flow is as little as 1 click and their incredible growth is from only caring about the customer and delivering value better than anyone else. Many people do almost all of their shopping on Amazon because it's fast, easy, and reliable, even if the prices aren't the best.
abtinf 8y ago
> CVS pays you to stock their product on their shelves Most retail works exactly the opposite - the manufacturer pays the retailer significant fees for shelf space.
- nsnick 8y ago
  There is even a word for it "slotting fees"
  - subpixel 8y ago
    Yes, but even accounting for those fees, retailers still pay brands to stock their products. Meanwhile on Amazon, brands pay Amazon to feature their products. Then they pay Amazon to stock/fulfill their products (FBO). Then they pay Amazon to feature their products (promotions). Amazon is in a heads-I-win, tails-you-lose position vis-a-vis brands.

dmoy 8y ago

Right I see the argument, but I don't get why it's a valid argument. I just don't get why this is news. Every retailer I've shopped at in the last year does this.

hakfoo 8y ago

I find, across the board, Amazon often feels like their incentives don't align with those of a customer. They're always trying to push Prime (and to a lesser extent their video and music service) which represents extra clicks to sale. It's a significant auto-renewing commitment, not a $5 casual impulse add-on-- repeatedly dangling it in front of me and hoping I misclick into it borders on a dark pattern. I'd love to see a big one-click "I am not interested do not bother me further" button. Everything about their checkout funnel is contrary to modern best practices. Fields are oddly arranged compared with most other ecommerce sites, and once you reach a certain point, the normal navigation disappears. I guess this is designed to trap the user with no way out but purchase, but it makes it harder to compare items, especially when you're trying to find out on shipping (see below). Shipping is a mess to deal with. "You need to spend $25 for free shipping, but these items don't count". "These items can ONLY be purchased with an order of other items that hit the free-shipping threshold." "These items can only be purchased with Prime." There's no easy "estimate shipping" button without going several pages into checkout. These sort of complexities probably are engineered to steer customers towards buying the items fulfilled by them to avoid the pitfalls. I'd also wonder if their brands "accidentally" do well because of how bad their product categorization is. Nobody else is selling AmazonBasics products, so the single listing gets all the ratings and sales volume. Meanwhile, the name brand has 30 slightly different poorly arranged listings all overlapped.

autokad 8y ago
I'm an absolute luddite when it comes to shopping online, but I found Amazon to be one of the easiest. i throw lots of stuff in my cart, and then pull things away at the end based off shipping cost/time. I have had shopping carts open for years. I also like the wish list and buy again options. When I order an air purifier, amazon reminds me I might need to buy extra filters, stuff like that. many times i have ordered stuff from websites, and key components that make what i ordered useful were not part of the order.
manigandham 8y ago
> I find, across the board, Amazon often feels like their incentives don't align with those of a customer. That's a strange interpretation. Their checkout flow is as little as 1 click and their incredible growth is from only caring about the customer and delivering value better than anyone else. Many people do almost all of their shopping on Amazon because it's fast, easy, and reliable, even if the prices aren't the best.

abtinf 8y ago

> CVS pays you to stock their product on their shelves Most retail works exactly the opposite - the manufacturer pays the retailer significant fees for shelf space.

nsnick 8y ago
There is even a word for it "slotting fees"
- subpixel 8y ago
  Yes, but even accounting for those fees, retailers still pay brands to stock their products. Meanwhile on Amazon, brands pay Amazon to feature their products. Then they pay Amazon to stock/fulfill their products (FBO). Then they pay Amazon to feature their products (promotions). Amazon is in a heads-I-win, tails-you-lose position vis-a-vis brands.