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I think amazon is winning solely based on their physical infrastructure which they keep investing in, and hence the share growth. It has nothing to do with how

I think amazon is winning solely based on their physical infrastructure which they keep investing in, and hence the share growth. It has nothing to do with how good their website or customer support is, or how many ads they show or not show. All are this ideas they just trying without anything to loose.

village-idiot 8y ago
Their website is garbage for how popular it is. It’s really hard to navigate the sections for controlling your kindle, digital purchases, or settings.
- zinckiwi 8y ago
  That's true. I still can't quite believe that although family sharing is a thing, and collections are a thing, I can't share a collection. I want to add books to a "Kids" collection and have that collection shared with them in Kindle for Kids. Can't be done. Need to share each book with each kid, one click at a time.
  - rjsw 8y ago
    Or just be able to buy a book for a relative and have it added to their Kindle. Maybe it is possible but it isn't obvious how to do it.
    - ceejayoz 8y ago
      It's possible, and fairly easy. You should see a "Buy for others" section on most Kindle book pages, right below the main purchase options. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201964280 https://smile.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeI...
- beojan 8y ago
  And why does the UI language depend on which country's version you're visiting? It makes sense for the descriptions, but the UI is the same in all versions.
- slivym 8y ago
  Whilst their website is terrible, I actually think the specifics of what Amazon does makes it very difficult for the website to be good. They sell a million versions of a million products in a million sectors. What is useful for me to know when buying a hard disk is not the same thing that is useful for me to know when buying a bottle of wine. So they either have 1 size fits all, or a huge cost in building almost custom websites for every different sector. I'm not sure it's actually possible to do that well.
  - Retric 8y ago
    Having a 100 or so skins for each major section could go a long way without costing Amazon that much. They already do some customization for example showing different sizes for clothing. The problem is they don't face much direct head to head competition. Where online can you buy a digital movie to watch right now, lawn ornaments, an out of print book from 1970, etc without ordering from several websites.
  - village-idiot 8y ago
    If it’s possible, Amazon has the resources to do it, they just clearly have decided not to spend them. Fwiw I knew a guy who claimed that the templating language for the main website was written in C headers. I can’t verify that, but if true it’d go a long way to explain why it’s so bad.
  - dingaling 8y ago
    Even fixing the infamous 'Choose a Department to enable sorting' problem would be a start. How am I meant to know Amazon's taxonomy? Somehow eBay can sort products across all categories and present them in one list. Wicked majick!
- pergadad 8y ago
  I like how it's very selectively showing filters. I can filter by price on my laptop, but not using the store on my Kindle. Alright Amazon, I guess you know who are the captive customers, but I'll not buy another Kindle...
elorant 8y ago
Ebay is also crap and yet it attracts millions. We may preach good practices all day long but the truth is that if your site is useful users will find a way to navigate it. Even if you keep moving things around like Amazon.
- GFischer 8y ago
  Time for disruption again, I guess... but it'll be very hard to beat Amazon/Ebay. I have an idea for some niches, it'll probably be implemented by the major players after it's been validated though.
  - snaky 8y ago
    There is no place for disruption wrt Amazon actually (eBay is different matter, trying to became the retail marketplace instead of worldwide used goods auction site is the same way Blackberry adopt trying to be an iPhone - with only possible sad outcome). American consumer is not changing - he still prefer 'easy' (especially easy return), 'one-click', everything in one place, delivered fast and all that convenience to all other features (including quality and price).
- matthewaveryusa 8y ago
  Another example is the Bloomberg terminal. It looks terrible but gets the job done and that's all that matters.
jspash 8y ago
From my window (if there wasn't a house in the way) I could see an Amazon Locker. THAT is why Amazon is winning - for me at least. They've solved a problem that makes up for the increased prices. The fact that I don't have to take a day off work to pick up a package. Or worry that my dodgy neighbours are going to steal it. That single feature has changed online shopping for me forever.

village-idiot 8y ago

Their website is garbage for how popular it is. It’s really hard to navigate the sections for controlling your kindle, digital purchases, or settings.

zinckiwi 8y ago
That's true. I still can't quite believe that although family sharing is a thing, and collections are a thing, I can't share a collection. I want to add books to a "Kids" collection and have that collection shared with them in Kindle for Kids. Can't be done. Need to share each book with each kid, one click at a time.
- rjsw 8y ago
  Or just be able to buy a book for a relative and have it added to their Kindle. Maybe it is possible but it isn't obvious how to do it.
  - ceejayoz 8y ago
    It's possible, and fairly easy. You should see a "Buy for others" section on most Kindle book pages, right below the main purchase options. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201964280 https://smile.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeI...
beojan 8y ago
And why does the UI language depend on which country's version you're visiting? It makes sense for the descriptions, but the UI is the same in all versions.
slivym 8y ago
Whilst their website is terrible, I actually think the specifics of what Amazon does makes it very difficult for the website to be good. They sell a million versions of a million products in a million sectors. What is useful for me to know when buying a hard disk is not the same thing that is useful for me to know when buying a bottle of wine. So they either have 1 size fits all, or a huge cost in building almost custom websites for every different sector. I'm not sure it's actually possible to do that well.
- Retric 8y ago
  Having a 100 or so skins for each major section could go a long way without costing Amazon that much. They already do some customization for example showing different sizes for clothing. The problem is they don't face much direct head to head competition. Where online can you buy a digital movie to watch right now, lawn ornaments, an out of print book from 1970, etc without ordering from several websites.
- village-idiot 8y ago
  If it’s possible, Amazon has the resources to do it, they just clearly have decided not to spend them. Fwiw I knew a guy who claimed that the templating language for the main website was written in C headers. I can’t verify that, but if true it’d go a long way to explain why it’s so bad.
- dingaling 8y ago
  Even fixing the infamous 'Choose a Department to enable sorting' problem would be a start. How am I meant to know Amazon's taxonomy? Somehow eBay can sort products across all categories and present them in one list. Wicked majick!
pergadad 8y ago
I like how it's very selectively showing filters. I can filter by price on my laptop, but not using the store on my Kindle. Alright Amazon, I guess you know who are the captive customers, but I'll not buy another Kindle...

elorant 8y ago

Ebay is also crap and yet it attracts millions. We may preach good practices all day long but the truth is that if your site is useful users will find a way to navigate it. Even if you keep moving things around like Amazon.

GFischer 8y ago
Time for disruption again, I guess... but it'll be very hard to beat Amazon/Ebay. I have an idea for some niches, it'll probably be implemented by the major players after it's been validated though.
- snaky 8y ago
  There is no place for disruption wrt Amazon actually (eBay is different matter, trying to became the retail marketplace instead of worldwide used goods auction site is the same way Blackberry adopt trying to be an iPhone - with only possible sad outcome). American consumer is not changing - he still prefer 'easy' (especially easy return), 'one-click', everything in one place, delivered fast and all that convenience to all other features (including quality and price).
matthewaveryusa 8y ago
Another example is the Bloomberg terminal. It looks terrible but gets the job done and that's all that matters.

jspash 8y ago

From my window (if there wasn't a house in the way) I could see an Amazon Locker. THAT is why Amazon is winning - for me at least. They've solved a problem that makes up for the increased prices. The fact that I don't have to take a day off work to pick up a package. Or worry that my dodgy neighbours are going to steal it. That single feature has changed online shopping for me forever.