Amazon's Website

Simple and Sophisticated

It goes without saying that an easy to use and reliable website is important for the success of any E-Commerce company. Fortunately for Amazon its attractive website contains both of these essential aspects. 

On both the Canadian and American versions, the user is immediately immersed in a carefully thought out website. With all of the company’s departments visible on the main page it makes for a very enjoyable shopping experience. Never do you feel lost on the website with the shop by department section visible in the top left corner as a constant reminder of where you are located.

The website also has a very easy way for users to create an Amazon account which allows us to buy and track items, among other things. All that is required is an active email address, your name and a password, and anyone now has access to the largest internet-based retailer in the United States and Canada.

Creating an account has never been so easy!

Reliability is another aspect of what makes Amazon’s website successful. All personal information provided to the website is stored confidentially and users can rest assure that their orders will be delivered on time. All the user really has to do is check the ratings and reviews of the seller to ensure that their products will be delivered as promised. At any time the customer can track their package via the website to see the package’s ETA and shipping progress.

With all of the features Amazon’s website has to offer it is clear why it has and will continue to be successful. Its user-friendly interface and reliability ensure a smooth shopping experience, and I encourage all of you to visit this website when possible.

Image Citations:

http://www.thebrightlines.com/article-data/images/ns-amazon-ff-small.png

http://learn.caconnects.org/file.php/113/amazon_screen1.png

Text Citation:

http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/10/an-analysis-of-the-amazon-shopping-experience/

Amazon Instant Video

Your Videos, Your Way

When most people want to watch their favourite tv shows or movies online, they think of subscribing to Netflix. But did you know Amazon offers a similar service that can be less expensive? I am talking about Amazon Instant Video, and it is giving its competition a run for their money. 

Amazon Instant Video allows its users to use its on-demand internet service to access their favourite movies and tv shows. Basically any video-game system will have access to Amazon Instant Video, as well as on the web, making it widely accessible. It offers the ability for its users to either stream or download movies and tv shows, whichever they prefer. Streaming is preferred by most users as all that is required is an active internet connection and does not take up any hard-drive space which makes it the most popular method of viewing content amongst its users.

Amazon Instant Video also gives its users the opportunity to either rent or own the movies they want to watch. Rentals are cheap, starting at $2.99 with a viewing window of 30 days to begin watching the rented movie. Buying a movie might be a better choice for some users, and the pricing reflects that of the market pricing for said movie.

With plenty to offer, Amazon Instant Video is a great choice for those seeking an internet video on demand service. Its wide accessibility combined with its plethora of viewing options makes it a worthy rival to Netflix and other internet-based products.

Image Citations:

http://www.technobuffalo.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/AMazon-Instant-Video-main.jpg

http://cdn.slashgear.com/wpcontent/uploads/2012/12/amazon_instant_video_google_tv_2.jpg

Text Citations:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000739191
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/digital-home/3471700/netflix-vs-amazon-prime-instant-video-comparison-review-streaming-uk/

Twitch.tv

Leading Its Market

For those of you interested in video games, you need no introduction to Twitch.tv. For the rest of my viewers, Twitch.tv is a live streaming video platform acquired by Amazon in September 2014. It allows its users to provide a live broadcast of any video games they are playing on their computer with viewers able to subscribe to their favourite channels with the ability to chat directly with their content providers.

Twitch.tv started of as Justin.tv, but seeing a very large growth in the gaming category the company saw an opportunity to focus solely on this growth and then became known today as Twitch.tv. It is now the most popular video game steaming service ever created with about 43 million views per month and at peak times it is the fourth largest source of internet use in the United states.

What makes Twitch.tv so successful is that it incorporates the excitement of live gameplay which its target audience craves, while being able to subscribe to a channel just like you can on YouTube. 

Its popularity is also increased through its mobile device apps, which allows its users to view streaming content just like they could on their computers. Since most electronic-savvy people have their mobile phones wherever they go, this is a smart move as it increases the capacity of Twitch to reach as many users as possible.

With all it has going for it, it’s no wonder Twitch.Tv is leading its market. All of its features make it great fun to use and its accessibility is incomparable to that of another similar product. As an occasional gamer, I highly suggest anyone interested in Twitch.tv to give it a try, you won't be disappointed!

Image Citations:

http://i2.wp.com/pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/twitch-to-livestream-the-e3-event.jpg?crop=0px%2C2px%2C600px%2C334px&resize=670%2C377

http://cdn.macrumors.com/article-new/2013/08/twitchscreenshots.jpg

Text Citations:

http://venturebeat.com/2014/07/24/googles-1b-purchase-of-twitch-confirmed-joins-youtube-for-new-video-empire/
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/may/19/twitch-youtube-live-games-google-acquisition-pokemon

Amazon Music

Great Selection At An Affordable Price

With Amazon offering so many services, it is understandable that many people forget about their online music store, similar to that of iTunes. Known as Amazon Music, it was launched in 2008 across the United States with its competitive advantage being that its songs are priced lower than its main competition, iTunes music store. It features over two million songs from over one-hundred eighty thousand artists, making it a very attractive place to download music.

Seeing the move towards cloud computing, Amazon was not shy to introduce their own cloud platform. In 2013 Amazon released the Amazon Cloud Player, which acts as a cloud for downloadable music from their store. It allows its users to store and play their favourite music from their desktop, web browser and mobile apps. Additionally this service allows up to 10 devices to be connected to the cloud so the options for us as consumers are near limitless for whenever and wherever we want to listen to our music.

Amazon Music also engages in strategic partnerships in hopes to increase its market share. Some notable partnerships include Pepsi, where consumers use their Pepsi bottles to download Mp3 music from the music store, and have also partnered with RockStar Games with the release of Grand Theft Auto 4 in hopes of selling in-game songs on their music store.

To my American viewers, I actively encourage you to visit Amazon Music. With its low prices and wide array of titles, it’s a good alternative to iTunes and you will end up saving money on your favourite music downloads.

Image Citations:

http://www.tunecore.com/images/store_logos/az_wide_color.png

http://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/amazon_cloud_player.png

http://images.starpulse.com/news/media/pepstufblogfeat.jpg

Text Citations:

http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-music-first-competitor-to-spotify-2014-6
http://www.talkandroid.com/reviews/apps/app-review-amazon-joins-an-already-crowded-field-with-prime-music/

AmazonFresh

Grocery Delivery Has Never Been So Easy

Wouldn't we love to live in a world where groceries were delivered to us? Amazon has made this dream a reality with the introduction of AmazonFresh, a grocery delivery service that allows members to order groceries online and have it delivered to their door. 

It has recently started in New York City and before this was only available in select regions in California. The increased demand lead Amazon to believe it could be successful in New York, and so far it has been a hit.

AmazonFresh has thousands of products for purchase which essentially turns it into an online paradise for those who just don't want to go to the grocery store. Ordering via AmazonFresh is very easy,  just go online to their website or use their AmazonFresh mobile app and select which groceries you want delivered, and if ordered before 10 a.m. you will receive your groceries the same day. It’s a dream that has become a reality.

Predictably, this great service does come at a cost, and it is a large cost indeed. Users must become Prime Fresh Members, which comes at a cost of $299 per year. This includes the Amazon Prime Membership of $99 pear year, so it is essentially costing a consumer $200 for door-delivery groceries. This does not include the actual cost of groceries, so there will always be a fixed cost associated with using this convenient service.

If you enjoyed this post, I’d be forever grateful if you’d help it spread via Facebook or Twitter. Thank you!

Image Citations:

http://bidonfusion.com/content/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Amazon-Fresh-Truck.jpg

http://cdn.geekwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/AmazonFresh_wPhone.jpg

Text Citations:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102103709
http://techcrunch.com/tag/amazonfresh/

Amazon's Web Services

Leading-Edge Technology At Your Fingertips

When most of us use Amazon it is to buy a product online or search for new products they are interested in. Most are unaware that Amazon has another very successful business besides its main website.

I am talking about Amazon's Web Services (AWS), which is a collection of remote computing services which makes up a cloud computing platform. One of the coolest features is the ability to rent industrial-strength computing capacity so long as users are willing to pay.

The main component is known as EC2 which allows users to rent virtual computers to run their own applications. It is like having a supercomputer in your possession without actually having to pay for a supercomputer, instead you are paying for Amazon’s service.

Another great service they provide is the Amazon Simple Storage Service which provides web-based storage. This is essentially just cloud computer where users can store anything they wish and be able to access it on different computers that are all connected to the Amazon cloud.

It is a little surprising after all that Amazon has had so much success with their online web services. At one point in time Amazon was nothing more than an online book store, but its web services now powers hundreds of businesses with names notable names such as  Pinterest. It just goes to show that a reputable brand name can do fantastic things for a company, even when entering a new and uncertain market.

Image Citations:
http://gigasoft.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/parceiro-gigasoft-aws1.jpg
http://www.zeendo.com/info/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/amazon-web-services.jpg
Text Citations:
http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/
http://aws.amazon.com/s3/

Amazon's Mobile Apps

Amazon, To Go

There’s a saying that almost everyone has become familiar with: “There’s and app for that.” Amazon is taking mobile devices by storm with its host of Amazon mobile apps. With apps available on all IOS and Android devices, it has created the potential to reach millions of customers, and all that’s required is a free download.

The app allows its users to do everything that its online website does, except it is all in the palm of your hands. The app allows its users to search for products they may wish to buy, track shipping information and review products. Amazon recognizes the importance of its mobile app and is always releasing updates to improve the stability and speed at which the app can be used.

On the Android platform Amazon has even more apps available to its users. The most successful of which is Kindle for Android, which allows the user to essentially turn their phone into a Kindle device. With close to 900000 books available, the app offers a Kindle like experience without the consumer actually having to purchase a Kindle. This app, however, does not offer all of the features the Kindle does but still remains among the top most downloaded apps on the Android app store.

With Amazon broadening its scope to mobile devices it has never been easier to access all of your favourite Amazon content that you have grown to love. This means that you may never use your computer for your Amazon needs, and even I have become a regular user of its free mobile app.

Image Citations:

http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/mobile/2013/US_iphone_screens._V373010432_.jpg

http://img.talkandroid.com/uploads/2012/03/kindle_app.jpg

Text Citations:

http://www.techvibes.com/blog/amazon-mobile-app-canadians-2013-02-21
http://www.cnet.com/products/kindle-android/