The amazing loss-making bookseller (amazon.co.uk)

Member Name: kca101

Product:	amazon.co.uk
Date:	26/09/00 (33 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Top choice, quality and consistency

Disadvantages: .co.uk stocks sometimes low

Amazon, Amazon, the amazing loss-making bookseller. For years the supplier of hard-to-find books, music and videos at low, low prices. Add on the postage and you still get a bargain over most high-street shops. Add in the convenience of having your purchases delivered anywhere and you’re onto a winner.

However, the market place is getting more crowded by the day – how does the original internet bookseller stand up against the rest?


Choice & Usability

In 3 years of ordering from Amazon I have only once found them unable to supply a book I wanted. No other mainstream bookseller (bol, Barnes & Noble, etc) sold it either and I had to buy it from a specialist online shop. The choice is exceptionally good, and the added value of customer reviews and showing you the purchases other buyers have made, is outstanding.

Over the years Amazon has listened to its customers and made its site incredibly easy and intuitive to navigate. The addition of Music, Video, DVD, software and auctions has been made seamlessly and you can easily browse these other areas in the same way as the books section.

If I could improve one thing it would be the immediate stock in the UK site. Often more obscure titles take 2 days instead of next day to be delivered.


Price & Delivery

Okay, so they are not always the cheapest, but if Amazon are not making money on a sale then how can anyone else be? I’ve found them to be the cheapest on most occasions and their postage and packing is cheaper than some who undercut them.

In any case I would normally pay any extra £1 on a £30 order to get it a day earlier, which, in my experience, is what Amazon tend to do.


Service & Reliability

Customer Service, although it is fully automated, is very good. Confirmation emails of orders and emails when your order is sent out. The timescales given are (in my experience) always met and o
ften exceeded. Many times I have been told that a book will take 2-3 days to come in to Amazon and yet received it within 2 days.


In conclusion, my experiences with Amazon lead me to rate them as the top quality online bookseller. Long may they continue to provide and easy-to-use and consistent service to this happy customer. (No I haven’t got shares in them, I just think they do a good job ....)

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