The last time I moved apartments, I bought something from Amazon for $1 just to make sure my new address was routing correctly.
Amazon Prime members buy twice as much, don't compare on price
81–90 of 151 posts
Re: Amazon Prime members buy twice as much, don't compare on price
#82[deleted]
Re: Amazon Prime members buy twice as much, don't compare on price
#83It sounds like Amazon is losing $11 per year on Prime customers, so why do they continue this promotion?
"Losing" was the wrong word there. They are spending $11 to acquire $500 of increased business. Even with a 3% profit margin, that's a net gain.
Re: Amazon Prime members buy twice as much, don't compare on price
#84"82% of Prime members buy on Amazon even if the item is less expensive somewhere else" The supposed "source" referenced another study (sans link), so I can't get the answer to the obvious question: Was "less expensive" computed using the marginal cost to the customer of this particular purchase? Meaning, do other sites offer the widget for a few dollars less but charge a lot for 2nd day shipping? I'm a Prime customer…
Regarding clothing: I've heard the idea that we'll all scan our bodies, upload that data, and an online site will be able to show us what will fit us. People may find that too creepy, but Amazon could do something else: gather lots of feedback about what fits customers and what doesn't. You get 3 pairs of pants, rate them "too big" and "too small" and "just right". Eventually that could correlate that if you and Cust…
I think Zappos already does something similar with shoe sizes.
Re: Amazon Prime members buy twice as much, don't compare on price
#85"82% of Prime members buy on Amazon even if the item is less expensive somewhere else" The supposed "source" referenced another study (sans link), so I can't get the answer to the obvious question: Was "less expensive" computed using the marginal cost to the customer of this particular purchase? Meaning, do other sites offer the widget for a few dollars less but charge a lot for 2nd day shipping? I'm a Prime customer…
Exactly! Less "expensive" in what way? sure the purchase price might be lower but what about the "pain in the butt" price? If you have to load a baby into the car drive 5mi (gas) get the thing you need and drive back 5mi (gas) and the whole thing takes two hours of your night when you could have been working and getting paid $XXX.
Nope Amazon is cheaper 99% of the time once you factor in the "pain in the butt" price.
Re: Amazon Prime members buy twice as much, don't compare on price
#86I enjoy Amazon Prime very much as a customer; had it for free before, and when the free period ended, I gladly paid the $80 membership because it does save me quite a bit in the end (I buy a lot more at amazon, although I spend less overall -- mostly at the expense of overpriced local stores, somewhat at the expense of other reasonably priced online stores).
Recently though, I've started making a habit of converting people to use ShopRunner, and letting everyone I know to get on ShopRunner when the promotion is free. The experience I've had with ShopRunner is not as good as Amazon Prime, but it is close. And I fear the Amazon monoculture more than I enjoy Prime.
Don't expect Prime to be as good when they don't actually have to compete on merit. Promote the competition, even if it costs you a little now - it's an investment for the future.
(Re: shoprunner, every couple of weeks they used to have a "get in free today" deal; Now it's $1/year once every few weeks. Set up an alert on dealnews.com to be notified the next time this happens)
Re: Amazon Prime members buy twice as much, don't compare on price
#87"82% of Prime members buy on Amazon even if the item is less expensive somewhere else" The supposed "source" referenced another study (sans link), so I can't get the answer to the obvious question: Was "less expensive" computed using the marginal cost to the customer of this particular purchase? Meaning, do other sites offer the widget for a few dollars less but charge a lot for 2nd day shipping? I'm a Prime customer…
But don't you need to leave the house to return the items? I've always regarded dropping off and mailing packages to be a huge chore.
Re: Amazon Prime members buy twice as much, don't compare on price
#88I live in Canada. Amazon.com (vs. amazon.ca) and Amazon prime almost make me want to move to America. Amazon.ca is still pretty much just books.
There are legal reasons: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon.com_controversies#Canadi...
That covers books. But amazon.ca also lacks the non-book products that are so plentiful on amazon.com
I had assumed it was for import/distribution reasons, but I'd be interested to find out the real reason.
The Canadian site now tends to have all the books the US site has.
Re: Amazon Prime members buy twice as much, don't compare on price
#89•Represent 4% of Amazon's customer base •Spend 130% more than regular Amazon customers. (source) •May be responsible for as much as 20% of Amazon's overall sales in the U.S. Eh... those numbers don't line up.
"Sales" might mean individual transactions, in which case the numbers make sense if prime customers place smaller orders on average.
Re: Amazon Prime members buy twice as much, don't compare on price
#90Amazon Prime and Amazon "subscribe and save" are two excellent products. I love reducing trips out to crowded stores and time thinking about shopping choices. I don't have to worry about customer service, returning defective products (relatively, way easier on Amazon), etc. I think Jason Calacanis' article about the "Cult of Amazon Prime" hits on a lot of what has made it so successful, and what will make it successf…
Having a baby and saving ~$10 per box of diapers made me a quick convert to Subscribe and Save. Those things just magically show up on time and save me money in the long run.