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> Amazon.com Inc is currently worth 2.4 billion dollars and the only reason is that most businesses insist on giving their customers the worst online experience

> Amazon.com Inc is currently worth 2.4 billion dollars and the only reason is that most businesses insist on giving their customers the worst online experience possible. This is an incredibly reductive view of how Amazon came to dominate online retail. If you genuinely believe this, I would strongly urge you to research their history and understand how they became the monopoly they are today. I assure you, it's not primarily because they care more about the end user's experience.

carlosjobim 1y ago
It's just an example, and it holds true even if it's reductive. If businesses made just 5% of the effort with their online experience as they do with their physical stores or social media campaigning, then they would see massive returns on effort.
- nulbyte 1y ago
  I...don't have this experience. It doesn't hold true for me, and I suspect I am not alone. There are certainly some online stores that are not very great, but by and large, I just don't have problems with them. I prefer the seller's website over Amazon. Amazon, on the other hand, is plagued with fake or bad products from copycat sellers. I have no idea what I am going to get when I place an order. Frankly, I'm surprised when I get the actual thing I ordered.
  - zzzeek 1y ago
    it's still the case today, in 2025, that when I bought a Focusrite 18i20 mixer from Sweetwater that turned out to be defective, I had to spend a week with a lengthy and super-long-delayed conversation with their support department convincing them that the unit was in fact defective, that I was using it correctly, and finally getting the prized RMA to return it. Whereas if I had bought it from Amazon, I would have received the original package more quickly, and when defective, I could have had it in a box and shipped off from any local shipper that same day with no emails/phone calls required with a new one to arrive the next day. Amazon even as the leader in "enshittification" still offers a dramatically better experience for a wide range of products (though certainly not all of them).
  - ndriscoll 1y ago
    A couple years back I tried to buy some parts on digikey and literally could not get the checkout to work without completely disabling noscript (assuming that would've helped). They had like a dozen 3rd party tracking scripts. Eventually I gave up and used Amazon.
- bellgrove 1y ago
  Respectfully, this argument reads like it is completely ignorant of the e-commerce landscape over the past 30 years and how much Amazon has shaped and innovated in the space. Not to mention that today they have several verticals beyond e-commerce that make up their valuation.
  - carlosjobim 1y ago
    Okay go on and count only half for the sake of argument. That's still a trillion. Any business can do what Amazon does for their products and their customers. But they don't and they won't. Those who do experience great advantages.
    - ZYbCRq22HbJ2y7 1y ago
      > Any business can do what Amazon does for their products and their customers No, they can't, as evidenced by not everyone else in e-commerce doing that.
      - carlosjobim 1y ago
        What kind of argument is that? Not doing something is not evidence that it is impossible to do.
        ZYbCRq22HbJ2y7 1y ago
        Yer trollin', but yeah, I'll reply, normally when things are successful, people follow suit, so doing something is evidence that it is possible to do. Like, take nuclear weapons for an example...
        carlosjobim 1y ago
        I think you misunderstood this part: "Any business can do what Amazon does for their products and their customers." What I meant is that any business can do for their products and their customers what Amazon does. Not that any business can do everything Amazon does. There would be little reason for online marketplaces like Amazon to grow so huge, if businesses had cared enough to provide a reasonable online experience. 20 years ago, 10 years ago, or 5 years ago. Now we are in 2025 and most businesses offer worse online customer experience than what good businesses were offering 20 years ago. You can't be 20 years behind the times and say that it's impossible to compete. It's very possible to make a great customer experience and make money online, even for small businesses with limited means. As evidence by many companies doing that. It's the same with any marketplace like Booking.com or restaurant delivery apps. They wouldn't be half as big if the businesses they serve wouldn't be too lazy and worthless to make a decent online experience for their customers. But here we are.

carlosjobim 1y ago

It's just an example, and it holds true even if it's reductive. If businesses made just 5% of the effort with their online experience as they do with their physical stores or social media campaigning, then they would see massive returns on effort.

nulbyte 1y ago
I...don't have this experience. It doesn't hold true for me, and I suspect I am not alone. There are certainly some online stores that are not very great, but by and large, I just don't have problems with them. I prefer the seller's website over Amazon. Amazon, on the other hand, is plagued with fake or bad products from copycat sellers. I have no idea what I am going to get when I place an order. Frankly, I'm surprised when I get the actual thing I ordered.
- zzzeek 1y ago
  it's still the case today, in 2025, that when I bought a Focusrite 18i20 mixer from Sweetwater that turned out to be defective, I had to spend a week with a lengthy and super-long-delayed conversation with their support department convincing them that the unit was in fact defective, that I was using it correctly, and finally getting the prized RMA to return it. Whereas if I had bought it from Amazon, I would have received the original package more quickly, and when defective, I could have had it in a box and shipped off from any local shipper that same day with no emails/phone calls required with a new one to arrive the next day. Amazon even as the leader in "enshittification" still offers a dramatically better experience for a wide range of products (though certainly not all of them).
- ndriscoll 1y ago
  A couple years back I tried to buy some parts on digikey and literally could not get the checkout to work without completely disabling noscript (assuming that would've helped). They had like a dozen 3rd party tracking scripts. Eventually I gave up and used Amazon.
bellgrove 1y ago
Respectfully, this argument reads like it is completely ignorant of the e-commerce landscape over the past 30 years and how much Amazon has shaped and innovated in the space. Not to mention that today they have several verticals beyond e-commerce that make up their valuation.
- carlosjobim 1y ago
  Okay go on and count only half for the sake of argument. That's still a trillion. Any business can do what Amazon does for their products and their customers. But they don't and they won't. Those who do experience great advantages.
  - ZYbCRq22HbJ2y7 1y ago
    > Any business can do what Amazon does for their products and their customers No, they can't, as evidenced by not everyone else in e-commerce doing that.
    - carlosjobim 1y ago
      What kind of argument is that? Not doing something is not evidence that it is impossible to do.
      - ZYbCRq22HbJ2y7 1y ago
        Yer trollin', but yeah, I'll reply, normally when things are successful, people follow suit, so doing something is evidence that it is possible to do. Like, take nuclear weapons for an example...
        carlosjobim 1y ago
        I think you misunderstood this part: "Any business can do what Amazon does for their products and their customers." What I meant is that any business can do for their products and their customers what Amazon does. Not that any business can do everything Amazon does. There would be little reason for online marketplaces like Amazon to grow so huge, if businesses had cared enough to provide a reasonable online experience. 20 years ago, 10 years ago, or 5 years ago. Now we are in 2025 and most businesses offer worse online customer experience than what good businesses were offering 20 years ago. You can't be 20 years behind the times and say that it's impossible to compete. It's very possible to make a great customer experience and make money online, even for small businesses with limited means. As evidence by many companies doing that. It's the same with any marketplace like Booking.com or restaurant delivery apps. They wouldn't be half as big if the businesses they serve wouldn't be too lazy and worthless to make a decent online experience for their customers. But here we are.