Amazon - still the e-commerce benchmark
I first bought on amazon about 9 years ago. I can remember that it was “Perfume” by Patrick Suskind, still one of my favourite books. It was also my first purchase anywhere on the internet so I was probably quite nervous…
Since then I have ordered hundreds of times (mainly CDs and books) on the amazon.fr and the amazon.co.uk sites, and have NEVER had the slightest problem. The shop itself (the website) is well-designed and above all extremely clear; the orders always arrive when they say they will; and the after sales service (which Ive only had to use once when an order got lost by La Poste) is quick, efficient and inspires confidence. For me, Amazon remains the e-commerce customer experience benchmark.
Amazon have introduced customer reviews onto their product pages over the last couple of years and these are often very helpful in getting an unbiased opinion about the product you are thinking of buying, although sometimes (I think especially with music-related products) you’ve got to take some articles with a pinch of salt.
A site which has versions in different countries, particularly .fr and .co.uk versions, is handy for me as I still have family and friends in the UK, and the delivery costs are cheaper that way. Having said that, Ive just seen that amazon.fr is offering free delivery on all articles without a minimum purchase as part of their Christmas promotion.
