Even if it was begun as an online bookstore, Amazon now offers countless products on their e-commerce store, even fresh alimentary products with shipping guarantee in few hours as a prime customer (collaborating with U2 supermarket) and products for pets. And if you notice, actually the prices that Amazon sets are often lower than the regular prices in the market, also for electronic devices.

In addition, exceeding any expectation, for the electronic devices sold by Amazon as vendor or shipped by benefiting Amazon Prime, you will get excellent 2-year warranty. Why do I say it is excellent? Not only that it provides free reparation service if the device is broken and substitution if it cannot be repaired, Amazon also offers full reimbursement if the first two options cannot be provided in the period of two years from purchase as long as the damage is not caused by ourselves.

Everyone has heard about the privileges given by Amazon Prime, a paid membership which costs only €36 yearly in Italy (or €3 monthly).

With prime, amazon customers can receive various benefits that a free member cannot get, such as faster shipping up to one working day without extra cost for millions of products, 30 minutes ahead of other free customers for Amazon’s flash sale (offerta lampo) and unlimited streaming for plentiful list of TV series and films.

Last but not least, Amazon Prime members also have the Prime Day, the annual shopping holiday exclusive to Prime members.

There have been so many issues with several online shops where sellers cannot be contacted or where they provide unsatisfying solutions when some problems happen with the orders or with the purchased products. Some even have unpleasant customer service experience when they email or call. With Amazon, not only their customer service is easy to be contacted, there is also an option for you to be called by them, simply by filling the form and they will call you in less than a minute.

Amazon’s customer service is quick in providing us clear answer and solutions. I have used their customer service a number of times whenever I have some doubts or troubles with my purchases on Amazon.it. After responding to our problems, Amazon also provides the possibility to rate each of their customer service agent directly, to make sure that they can maintain the quality of the service.

Furthermore, after having done partnership with numerous couriers in the past, Amazon has now had its own courier (Amazon logistics) in the last few years. Amazon logistics service allows us as customers to get advantages when we buy something from a third-party vendor on Amazon. How? Let me tell you.

I have seen reviews where customers wrote their experiences on Amazon about the products that never arrived when they bought from third party sellers. But, when these sellers collaborate with Amazon logistics or with Prime service, you will also be calm as a customer. This guarantees that your order arrives safely. Even if it doesn’t, Amazon will ensure that you will get the product in the end by sending another one (if they are the vendor) or reimburse your money (if a third party is the vendor). Nevertheless, it doesn’t mean that they are flawless as nobody is perfect. Sometimes, their courier just throws your purchase through the gate without even calling your intercom or leaves it above your post box (risking it to be stolen by someone). In this case, you can complain to their customer service and they will then make sure that it is not happening anymore in the next shipping.

These are the experiences I’ve had with Amazon as a customer in Italy. What about you? Do you agree with me that it is going to be extremely effortful to beat Amazon as an e-commerce store?