It's funny to see this level of attention to detail. I've always found Amazon to be one of the worst designed websites outside of the checkout process, and not from a prettiness point of view. I'm convinced their success is purely due to a smooth checkout process, superior customer service (easy refunds, Amazon Locker, etc.) and price.
Amazon never makes we want to buy anything. I only buy if I go there knowing what I want. Browsing (as in shop browsing) is broken, the suggestions are inane (you've just bought a white 3m network cable, why not buy a blue 5m one?) and the search tools are lacklustre (can't sort by price until you choose one of three plausible departments your product falls into).
I have a Kindle and often go to their website looking for a book to buy. This experience sucks. If I go to Waterstones on the high street, they have both a relatively good depth of inventory but also attractively laid out tables of books grouped by subject. I invariably find 2 or 3 books that I like the look of. Unfortunately for Waterstones, physical books are not what I want (I live in London. Space is not plentiful).
Amazon the store front sucks. Amazon the check-out is awesome.
Amazon never makes we want to buy anything. I only buy if I go there knowing what I want. Browsing (as in shop browsing) is broken, the suggestions are inane (you've just bought a white 3m network cable, why not buy a blue 5m one?) and the search tools are lacklustre (can't sort by price until you choose one of three plausible departments your product falls into).
I have a Kindle and often go to their website looking for a book to buy. This experience sucks. If I go to Waterstones on the high street, they have both a relatively good depth of inventory but also attractively laid out tables of books grouped by subject. I invariably find 2 or 3 books that I like the look of. Unfortunately for Waterstones, physical books are not what I want (I live in London. Space is not plentiful).
Amazon the store front sucks. Amazon the check-out is awesome.