I’ve become increasingly aware that I’ve become an Amazon addict, and I’m sure I’m not alone.
I started using Amazon way back in 2001-ish… possibly earlier. It still didn’t have that much of a variety of products back then, but it was the go-to place to get books efficiently (although with very slow logistics versus today).
Fast-forward to today and Amazon is basically the one place I go to for anything in life apart from grocery shopping (but even some of that comes from Amazon now too).
The company has built itself up so much in terms of what you can buy, the pricing, and the delivery speed, that it has almost wiped-out all of the competition. It is basically the best service out there, and I am addicted to it.
I am fully aware that it owes a lot of corporation tax in the UK, and that’s not fair on the competition, especially considering it’s size. However I just keep on using them because there’s no comparable service.
It would be great to have some form of actual competitor out there, but I’m yet to see it. I think Ebay could take a more impressive slice of the action if it separated out ‘new’-Ebay from ‘used/auction’-Ebay, and standardised delivery/logistics for the ‘new’ side. But until something like that happens I’m most likely going to continue using Amazon like an addict.