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I've honestly never understood how amazon could become the go to site for ordering packages in the US. It's website is a mess, filled with dark patterns and co

I've honestly never understood how amazon could become the go to site for ordering packages in the US. It's website is a mess, filled with dark patterns and confusions for the users. The design itself made me literally contemplate whether this is a scam the first time I tried to use it. Complete turn off. It's no wonder other delivery sites have beat them in different countries (e.g. Digitec in Switzerland, TakeALot in South Africa, etc.).

lelanthran 2y ago
Takealot beat Amazon in SA because Amazon was not in SA till a few months ago.
mschuster91 2y ago
> I've honestly never understood how amazon could become the go to site for ordering packages in the US. Because for a loooong time in the Western world there were no competitors at all in the "online shopping" experience. There were mail delivery giants (e.g. German Quelle), some of them decades-long established - but they all completely and utterly missed online, and so did many brick-and-mortar retailers. They all thought people would trust a physical store more, e.g. against fraud, but online was/is so much cheaper that it doesn't matter in practice if you end up with fake products every once in a while. By the time they woke up, Amazon had already entrenched itself firmly as a one-stop-shop that offered fast (!) shipping and easy returns.
riffraff 2y ago
Cause Amazon was great. The website was simple to use when everything else was a mess. The support was perfect, you could get a refund in five minutes no questions asked, the delivery was reliable. Today's Amazon is not the same beast.
thomassmith65 2y ago
They were good once: simple website, authentic brandname products, good prices. Then they started allowing third party sellers. Then they abandoned the phase to just grow and break-even. Then they trotted out Prime and dark patterns. And now Amazon and its website are lucrative for Amazon but crap for customers.
- lotsofpulp 2y ago
  Free returns are why I still use it over websites like eBay/aliexpress.

lelanthran 2y ago

Takealot beat Amazon in SA because Amazon was not in SA till a few months ago.

mschuster91 2y ago

> I've honestly never understood how amazon could become the go to site for ordering packages in the US. Because for a loooong time in the Western world there were no competitors at all in the "online shopping" experience. There were mail delivery giants (e.g. German Quelle), some of them decades-long established - but they all completely and utterly missed online, and so did many brick-and-mortar retailers. They all thought people would trust a physical store more, e.g. against fraud, but online was/is so much cheaper that it doesn't matter in practice if you end up with fake products every once in a while. By the time they woke up, Amazon had already entrenched itself firmly as a one-stop-shop that offered fast (!) shipping and easy returns.

riffraff 2y ago

Cause Amazon was great. The website was simple to use when everything else was a mess. The support was perfect, you could get a refund in five minutes no questions asked, the delivery was reliable. Today's Amazon is not the same beast.

thomassmith65 2y ago

They were good once: simple website, authentic brandname products, good prices. Then they started allowing third party sellers. Then they abandoned the phase to just grow and break-even. Then they trotted out Prime and dark patterns. And now Amazon and its website are lucrative for Amazon but crap for customers.

lotsofpulp 2y ago
Free returns are why I still use it over websites like eBay/aliexpress.