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The Company

Amazon.com is a retail site, which provides consumers with just about any product you can think of online. The idea of the site, is to provide a mall-type selection without having to leave the comfort of your own home. Providing a wide range of goods such as books, movies, jewelry, kitchen appliances, and electronics, the site attempts to be your one-stop-shop for anything you might need. Amazon has been very successful in their approach to doing business over the net, and they pride themselves on how they survived the crash of the dot coms. Using the site is just as easy as searching it, and as long as you have a way to pay for the goods, they will ship you anything from their vast inventory. People have even started using this as the sole place from which to get Christmas presents, because you on have to deal with one vender, and you can see exactly where your money is going. The world's largest online retailer, Amazon does billions in business, and has come to value its place in the market. Because of this, they are a safe company to order from, and place your trust in.

The Site

Amazon.com is very recognizable in the way that they present their web-site. It is set up to promote its ease of use, and to make it easy for people to find what they are looking for quickly. At the top of the page you have three drop down tabs that are the main site, your personalized site if you are a member, and a product category list. For people using the site, it comes down to your specific preference as to which one of these will be displayed each time you log on to the site. The main page is nothing to turn your nose up to, but the personal page is geared to offer products that the site has determined you would like. This is based on past purchases that you have made on the site, and can prove helpful if you are constantly purchasing the same type of things. For me though, it is more or less just a list, because I don't place any value in their recommendations about what product I will like next. I go to the site when I am looking for something specific, and I know exactly what product I will be looking for. If you are a user that likes to browse though, this section of the site can be extremely helpful at finding cool new toys. The third option is a rough list of all of the product categories on the site. If you are looking for a movie or a magazine, but clicking straight through the product category, you can get to specific sections of the site. This can be helpful if you are a user that doesn't like the flashy presentation of the main page. The sheer number of things on the main page overwhelms some people, so this simplifies things, and provides a "back door" to all of the main categories.

On the left side of the main page, we are also given a few lists that can prove to be very helpful. The first list, is called "your favorites", which will list the categories that you have made purchases from by default. The beauty about it though, is that you can edit those selections to include anything on the site you want to be able to access quickly. With a front page link to anywhere you want to go on the site, you can save time, and also use it as a shortcut to get back to the categories you like looking through the most. Under the favorites list, there are featured stores, new stores to the site, and then the most popular categories are listed with some sub-category links below them. Beyond the category listings on the left side, there is also a Special Features box that shows the "extras" which the site has. These include; Amazon.com Mobile Access, Amazon Credit Account, Early Adopters, Free e-Cards, Friends & Favorites, Gift Certificates, Giving at Amazon.com, Information on the Honor System, Purchase Circles, A Short Film Competition, and A Wedding Registry. These are all pretty self explanatory sections, which just serve as bonuses that the site has to offer to its users.

Down the center of the main page, is where the daily specials, new deals, and newly available products. The specials can include discounts such as a specific percentage off of a categories items, deals where you buy one of something and get another free, recommended specials that are going on such as $4.99 DVD's, and things of this nature. To accentuate that, on the right side of the main page there is a list of new products that have been released. Most notable on the site, are its book and DVD sales, so the primary advertisements are usually in those two categories. For me, movies are a section that I am always looking at, so I find it nice that the site will tell me when a brand new DVD is going to be hitting the stores. New products that are sure to be popular, like a new Harry Potter novel, also are given the royal treatment on this side of the page, with the ability to see what it entails, and pre-order it all in the same stop. The other neat thing about the right side, is a top-seller that they will show. Something such as the Beatle’s #1's album becoming a top-seller is interesting to read about, even if I don't decide to make a purchase out of it.

Finally, the bottom of the main site offers a lot of tools that are useful to anyone who uses the site. One of the most important things when ordering products online, is being able to have the faith that what you order is what you get, and that you will also get it when you expect it to. When you order something that says it will get to you in 3 days, you want it there in 3 days,, without having to deal with any excuses. So, what the site gives you to ease your mind is a "Where's My Stuff?" section. This queries your account, and checks out what you have ordered and when. It gives you the ability to track the status of all of your recent orders, and you are able to see how far along in its trek that your product is. For people wanting something that they ordered very quickly, this is one of those nice little quirks that you can check in on, to know exactly when to plan out the excitement in your mind. Also at the bottom are the shipping rates and policies, the return capabilities of items, and a place to seek help for any issue you may be having. Just below that are many links about the site itself, if you are interested in seeing more information than is presented on the main page. For people who want to sell on the site, apply for a job at Amazon, or simply read about Amazon in the news, these links are all beneficial to users.

The Products

It's easy to see why Amazon has become so successful when you take a look at how many products they offer, and the quality of those products. When you order something from them, you aren't ordering something from the dollar store, but instead something that you specifically want. If there is a DVD player that you are interested, you can do research on it, come over to Amazon.com and order it for yourself, knowing that you are getting the correct brand and model that you want. Anything from Sony to Magnavox is available and all it comes down to is a matter of choice, and how much you are willing to spend on your luxury item. The product you select is put into a box slightly larger than its own, and is shipped out with this double protection of the goods.

Ordering on the Site

It is really easy to order from Amazon.com, and it just entails signing up for an account, providing a valid credit card number, and telling the site where you want your orders to be sent. You don't have to have a primary address, and you can also order items on the site that will be sent directly to someone else. This can be really handy for wedding or Christmas gifts, because you can order them, have them sent, and not need to worry about remembering to take the gifts with you on your long trip to an event. They do charge for shipping on the site, and break it down to four main categories; standard, two-day, one-day, and International. Standard is considered to take 3 to 5 business days and International Priority is expected to take 1 to 4 business days. For the other two, I think it is pretty obvious that 1 day or 2 day shipping is intended to take those specific number of days respectively. One of the great things that the site also does, is have flat fees for what type of product you will be ordering. So, if you are ordering something like a CD on standard, then you can log on to their list of prices and see that it will cost you $1.99 in shipping, before you place the order. If you really don't care about the cost, the site does calculate it for you when you are completing the order, so you don't even have to worry about looking up costs if you don't care.

It is very easy to complete a transaction on the site, and even easier to pay for what you want online. By simply using your credit card once, the site saves your information in case you want to use the same card on future purchases. This way, the next time you order something, the process is even easier, and all you will have to do is simply log into the site. You are provided with e-mail confirmation if you like, a printable invoice, and on top of that it will save the information from your purchase so that you can go back at look at it any time you please. This can be helpful if you are trying to order a lot of gifts around Christmas time, and you can't really remember how many you have ordered, or who you can cross off your list. With the lists that are so readily available, the site becomes easier and easier to use each time you come back to it. Because it is your information, you can choose to delete anything you want from the records, or be alerted when products have been received, or become available. The use is really in the hands of the user, and there is no limit to what you can do with all of the tools regarding your information.

The Reviews / Recommendations

What Amazon also provides, are reviews of the products on its site, and recommendations from people who have either ordered it from the site, or have used the product and want to talk about their experiences with it. A user can write a "review" on the site, and it serves as a rating scale for how the products end up being listed on the site. The more popular a product, the more reviews you will find from it, and you can pick and choose which one of the users gives the most helpful comments about the product. Upon reading these comments, you can also grade it based on how helpful you found it by clicking on "yes" or "no" in answer to "Was this review helpful." This can serve as a good way to gauge if a product is something you really want to spend money on, or it can actually talk you out of making a purchase of something specific. The reviews are what you make of them, and you decide just how valuable it can be to you. On the whole, I have found the reviewers of the site to not be quite as articulate as many other sites, but I guess it serves its purpose for Amazon.

Customer Service / Reliability

I have never had a bad experience with Amazon, so I don't have any horror stories to relate in a long story about the site. Instead, I have been very satisfied with every interaction I have had with Amazon. When ordering products, I have never had a problem with finding what I was looking for, nor with the price that I had to pay for it. The shipping and handling is a minor expense to me for being able to order products online, and the ability to see the progression of my shipment in the mail has been helpful to me every time. I have always received exactly what I have ordered, and if the product wasn't right on time, it came earlier than expected. The products have always arrived in great shape, and I think that could just be due to the extra box that they provide, but it has nonetheless made me happy in my dealings. I don't have anything bad I can say about the site, because the one time I had a question regarding an order, I submitted an e-mail, and received a very prompt response to my inquiry. The site has always given me what I need, and there isn't anything more that I could expect from an online retailer.

Overview

On the whole, Amazon.com is a great place to shop for online products. I wouldn't go as far as saying it is the best online store out there, but it does the job that it sets out to do, and that is all I need from them. If I want a product, I want to be able to locate it quickly, order it on the spot, and have it at my door in a short amount of time. With Amazon you get exactly that and nothing short of it. I have even used Amazon at my workplace, because of how reliable I have found the company to be. It is definitely a site that gets the job done, and that is why I feel Amazon.com is a great business.