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This is the number one reason Amazon is winning everything. It's not even the cheapest anymore. But it's such a hassle shopping at other websites. Even supermar

This is the number one reason Amazon is winning everything. It's not even the cheapest anymore. But it's such a hassle shopping at other websites. Even supermarkets that should know better - making an order, even once you've clicked 'checkout' is sometimes 10 clicks or more. It's painful!

djhworld 6y ago
The checkout process of Amazon is good, the browsing experience...not so much
- dalbasal 6y ago
  Good is relative, and situational. A big part of why it's good is that it's familiar and you're probably already registered.
  - Al-Khwarizmi 6y ago
    Indeed. I remember having a quite frustrating time convincing Amazon to ship to my work address, as for some reason it didn't fit its understanding of what an address should look like and it didn't "validate". The address is not even that uncommon (it's just not on a street/square/etc. but on a campus, and has no building number), and I never had that problem in other websites. But that was years ago, now the address is already registered and it's not something I remember every time I shop there. Instead, what I experience every day is a very streamlined checkout process (the only small frustration is that the option to "group shipments into a large shipment" seldom appears now. The other day I bought two little boxes, identical except for the color, for about maybe €9 each, and they shipped separately, which is a bit jarring).
- jonplackett 6y ago
  You say that but - their search works really well. Most other shops it’s awful. You’re lucky if it can even correct spelling errors.
  - krackers 6y ago
    "Really well" is overselling it quite a bit. I can search for the exact product name as displayed on a product page and still not have it find hits. Ebay's search is quite a bit better.
mytailorisrich 6y ago
Amazon has also prioritized customer experience both when things go right and when things go wrong. Many other online stores are all shiny with nice slogans but if you have a problem and need customer support then good luck. This is also visible in the fact that Amazon makes it simple to cancel an order before it ships (just one click) and that they don't charge until an item ships.
- marvion 6y ago
  > and when things go wrong. Even when 3rd party, like shipping, messes up. Many stores treat the package someone else's problem as soon as it's out of their shop. Amazon seems to be the only one who cares about the tracking number too(this may vary country..).
- dazc 6y ago
  Two recent experiences with amazon returns: 1)Keep the item, no charge (small ticket price item delivered twice by mistake). 2)We've refunded you, and for your inconvenience we've topped up your gift card by £5. (delayed delivery so cancelled). Most other UK stores: 1)Please jump through several hoops and go an hour out of way to send it back to us (at your own expense) then it's 50/50 if ever hear another thing. 2)No reply whatsoever
- jonplackett 6y ago
  Yes absolutely this! Amazon customer support is beyond reproach. I even had free prime for about a year because every time a parcel arrived a day late, they'd give me an extra couple of months of prime. I don't like it that amazon is taking over everything, but it's happening because they're really good at what they do.
adamt 6y ago
Agree completely. The biggest threat I see to this though is Apple Pay (for mobile web). When sites integrate with this properly, it enables them to match the Amazon experience. No need to register or enter any details, just one fingerprint, and all done.
- alias_neo 6y ago
  That's great for the minority who use Apple devices. It's not going to touch Amazon though. If there was a cross-platform payment service which integrates with Apple, Google, Samsung (et al) Pay, and then is ubiquitously employed on mobile web, now that could make a dent in Amazon sales.
  - Nextgrid 6y ago
    I doubt an Apple Pay-like solution alone will help much. Even on sites that support Apple Pay, a lot of them still ruin the experience by making you go through several screens, ask for details, etc despite Apple Pay being able to provide them everything they need (name, delivery address and shipping options) and make it a one-click experience.
  - chrismatheson 6y ago
    will the W3C web payments API help? https://www.w3.org/Payments/WG/ https://www.w3.org/Payments/WG/
    - alias_neo 6y ago
      It would certainly help. I think the push needs to come from banks and their apps, or for an independent payment processor to become popular enough (a la PayPal). The integration needs to be easy and well implemented. I've lost count of how many sites I've gone through "1-click" pay with PayPal and then still had to enter my address details again because they haven't integrated it correctly with their shopping cart.
dazc 6y ago
My Dad shops from Iceland (a UK discount grocer) online because it's free delivery over a certain amount. The other week he said they were not accepting his card so, assuming he was making some obvious mistake, I tried with my own card and found the same problem. Using another card, the same. Two weeks later, the same problem. Yes I emailed support at the time and never got a reply? And yes, this is also one of the supermarkets that requires 4 or 5 clicks after you have selected to checkout. No doubt they'll be blaming amazon for their fall in sales of late.
- uzakov 6y ago
  Have you ever done any calculations on how much you actually save when doing "Tesco vs Iceland and Waitrose(surprise!)" comparison? When doing personal calculations and taking into account certain peculiarity of each one of them (For example Waitrose does free delivery over certain amount, will substitute items for items for the higher amount/price(for free) if selected item isn't available, give items for free if they have a short end date) I found that for me in particular online grocery shopping with Waitrose is 5-10% more expensive, while I prefer the taste of Waitrose food much more
  - dazc 6y ago
    I agree that 'free delivery' can work out costing more or about the same as paid. Have I done a proper calculation though, no. My Dad is awkward though and will convince himself he's saving money regardless.
    - uzakov 6y ago
      I used to think that "discount grocery shops" are much cheaper than other grocery shops but after doing comparison for products that I buy, I found there is a little difference in price, while the quality/taste is very different.

djhworld 6y ago

The checkout process of Amazon is good, the browsing experience...not so much

dalbasal 6y ago
Good is relative, and situational. A big part of why it's good is that it's familiar and you're probably already registered.
- Al-Khwarizmi 6y ago
  Indeed. I remember having a quite frustrating time convincing Amazon to ship to my work address, as for some reason it didn't fit its understanding of what an address should look like and it didn't "validate". The address is not even that uncommon (it's just not on a street/square/etc. but on a campus, and has no building number), and I never had that problem in other websites. But that was years ago, now the address is already registered and it's not something I remember every time I shop there. Instead, what I experience every day is a very streamlined checkout process (the only small frustration is that the option to "group shipments into a large shipment" seldom appears now. The other day I bought two little boxes, identical except for the color, for about maybe €9 each, and they shipped separately, which is a bit jarring).
jonplackett 6y ago
You say that but - their search works really well. Most other shops it’s awful. You’re lucky if it can even correct spelling errors.
- krackers 6y ago
  "Really well" is overselling it quite a bit. I can search for the exact product name as displayed on a product page and still not have it find hits. Ebay's search is quite a bit better.

mytailorisrich 6y ago

Amazon has also prioritized customer experience both when things go right and when things go wrong. Many other online stores are all shiny with nice slogans but if you have a problem and need customer support then good luck. This is also visible in the fact that Amazon makes it simple to cancel an order before it ships (just one click) and that they don't charge until an item ships.

marvion 6y ago
> and when things go wrong. Even when 3rd party, like shipping, messes up. Many stores treat the package someone else's problem as soon as it's out of their shop. Amazon seems to be the only one who cares about the tracking number too(this may vary country..).
dazc 6y ago
Two recent experiences with amazon returns: 1)Keep the item, no charge (small ticket price item delivered twice by mistake). 2)We've refunded you, and for your inconvenience we've topped up your gift card by £5. (delayed delivery so cancelled). Most other UK stores: 1)Please jump through several hoops and go an hour out of way to send it back to us (at your own expense) then it's 50/50 if ever hear another thing. 2)No reply whatsoever
jonplackett 6y ago
Yes absolutely this! Amazon customer support is beyond reproach. I even had free prime for about a year because every time a parcel arrived a day late, they'd give me an extra couple of months of prime. I don't like it that amazon is taking over everything, but it's happening because they're really good at what they do.

adamt 6y ago

Agree completely. The biggest threat I see to this though is Apple Pay (for mobile web). When sites integrate with this properly, it enables them to match the Amazon experience. No need to register or enter any details, just one fingerprint, and all done.

alias_neo 6y ago
That's great for the minority who use Apple devices. It's not going to touch Amazon though. If there was a cross-platform payment service which integrates with Apple, Google, Samsung (et al) Pay, and then is ubiquitously employed on mobile web, now that could make a dent in Amazon sales.
- Nextgrid 6y ago
  I doubt an Apple Pay-like solution alone will help much. Even on sites that support Apple Pay, a lot of them still ruin the experience by making you go through several screens, ask for details, etc despite Apple Pay being able to provide them everything they need (name, delivery address and shipping options) and make it a one-click experience.
- chrismatheson 6y ago
  will the W3C web payments API help? https://www.w3.org/Payments/WG/ https://www.w3.org/Payments/WG/
  - alias_neo 6y ago
    It would certainly help. I think the push needs to come from banks and their apps, or for an independent payment processor to become popular enough (a la PayPal). The integration needs to be easy and well implemented. I've lost count of how many sites I've gone through "1-click" pay with PayPal and then still had to enter my address details again because they haven't integrated it correctly with their shopping cart.

dazc 6y ago

My Dad shops from Iceland (a UK discount grocer) online because it's free delivery over a certain amount. The other week he said they were not accepting his card so, assuming he was making some obvious mistake, I tried with my own card and found the same problem. Using another card, the same. Two weeks later, the same problem. Yes I emailed support at the time and never got a reply? And yes, this is also one of the supermarkets that requires 4 or 5 clicks after you have selected to checkout. No doubt they'll be blaming amazon for their fall in sales of late.

uzakov 6y ago
Have you ever done any calculations on how much you actually save when doing "Tesco vs Iceland and Waitrose(surprise!)" comparison? When doing personal calculations and taking into account certain peculiarity of each one of them (For example Waitrose does free delivery over certain amount, will substitute items for items for the higher amount/price(for free) if selected item isn't available, give items for free if they have a short end date) I found that for me in particular online grocery shopping with Waitrose is 5-10% more expensive, while I prefer the taste of Waitrose food much more
- dazc 6y ago
  I agree that 'free delivery' can work out costing more or about the same as paid. Have I done a proper calculation though, no. My Dad is awkward though and will convince himself he's saving money regardless.
  - uzakov 6y ago
    I used to think that "discount grocery shops" are much cheaper than other grocery shops but after doing comparison for products that I buy, I found there is a little difference in price, while the quality/taste is very different.