Introduction
The 2 ecommerce platforms chosen for analysis are Amazon and e-Bay. I selected these two platforms because I was most familiar with them and had made online purchases before.
Amazon
I first purchased a motivational book from amazon.com then went ahead to buy a DVD. I decided to return the DVD and first visited the returns centre in order to ensure that I was doing the right thing. I was surprised that it was quite easy to return an item as long as it is open. I was lucky enough not to have opened my package. In the Return center, the company had laid out a pictorial representation of the returning process.
First, a customer needs to go to this returns center and print the label which would be attached on the package; I printed my return label. The second step was to prepare a package in which to place the item and the third step was to seal the box and attach the return label at the top of the package.
The last step was to ship the package through my local courier. When I took the package to DHS, they told me that I needed to pay shipping fees and I realized that there would be a number of other hidden payments in this process. So I went back to the company website under “Amazon Help” to find out all the charges involved.
I found out that since mine was a media item and it had not been opened, I would get a refund of 80% of my purchasing price. However, because I was returning something out of my own liking rather than a mistake made by Amazon, then I needed to pay for the shipping. I also found out that the reason why I was not getting a full refund was that there was a restocking fee which would be deducted from my desired item.
I had returned my package after a period of two days so this was well within the 30 day limit that the company places on returned items. I received my refund through the same method that I had used to pay for the service and this was through my credit card. It came after three days.
All in all, I felt that their return policy was quite fair; it was reasonable for me to pay shipping charges since they had not committed any wrong. Furthermore, refunds came in on time and I liked the fact that they only deducted 20% out of the original purchase price. This was quite fair because all goods lose value as soon as they leave a business’s premises.
The reason why Amazon is doing so well in this highly competitive world of ecommerce is their customer focus. The company has created forums for conducting web reviews in which customers rate items and give their comments about the items. In fact, I bought the self help book and DVD only after looking through customer reviews to find out if it would be worth my while.
Additionally, the website has provided a content search platform in which one can analyze book content. I was therefore able to buy my book only after ascertaining that it contained only the material I was looking for. Amazon also impressed me with the bonuses they give on credit cards and shipping and it was great that the book cost much less here than it did in some other book stores.
I was impressed by their click ordering because I did not have to follow such a long process in order to get my product and I received it on time. The company has such a large inventory of items and it is almost impossible to miss one’s favorite book or item.
For an ecommerce website to do well it must have an air tight marketing strategy. I saw an advertisement for this motivational book on another website I was visiting. In fact, Amazon ads can be found in almost all types of websites so it is quite easy to get external information about the service.
The website is user friendly because payment options and terms of use are clearly written. I thought their customer service was top notch and this was even increased by the fact that I could track my product movement. The company has a ‘contact us’ link on almost all sections of their websites. I did not wait long before someone could attend to me. In fact, it is the personal service that illustrated how professional the company was.
EBay
My purchases from E-bay were for a commemorative coin and a watch. I decided to return the coin and found that their return policy was quite different. Since this is a flea market, all sellers had their own return policies. I went back to my seller and read his return policy. He had stated that customers must return items within 7 days of purchase, but this was not inclusive of shipping time.
He specified that a refund would only be possible after the good had arrived back to the seller and that Return of merchandise authorization was needed. I therefore contacted the seller and told him that I changed my mind about the product and wished to return it to him. The customer was expected to pay for shipping and he asserted that this would be done through PayPal.
After contacting him for authorization, he first told me that I had already exceeded the 7 day limit so I should not expect a refund but I requested him to be lenient with me since I was going to buy more collectables from him in the future. He told me that he could give me credit for future purchases that was equivalent to 50% of the coin’s value- I received a gift certificate.
I negotiated with him and he agreed to increase it to 70%. I also had to pay for shipping. I am yet to buy more items from him so that I can investigate whether he will stick to his assertion or not. I thought this return policy was more stringent because the duration was only 7 days.
I also felt that he should be willing to send refunds since the items are not breakable or easily spoilt like electronics. There is room for improvement here even though the concerned collectables seller tried to accommodate me as much as possible.
I was impressed by the company’s web design; Products were categorized so that it would be easier to find what I was looking for. I also found that prices, photos and descriptions of the items were well done such that vital information could be found at a glance.
However, sometimes the descriptions can be different from the actual commodity since these are mostly second hand commodities. I found that the customer service was not as powerful as it was at Amazon because most of the work is left to independent sellers in the eBay village. In fact, I got most of my information from blogs and external parties when trying to find out about return policies.
This site is unique in that I could access so many commodities and so many sellers at one place. Everything from clothes, to phones, furniture, electronics and many more were available from this particular online shop. So the convenience was definitely something worthwhile.
I could imagine that many other customers from around the world were buying and bidding just like I was at EBay yet I could carry out my transactions very quickly. The company must have very effective servers to monitor these transactions.
However, I did not like the fact that most items needed to be bided on. It wastes a lot of time because the seller must decide which price is most convenient. Although there were items that had fixed prices, these represented the smaller percentage.
Conclusion
Generally, Amazon appeared to be more user friendly because it is owned and run by a single firm. On the other hand, EBay is operated by a series of sellers from around the world; they all have their different offerings, conditions and expectations so synchronization is a challenge here. Both websites have great variety and conduct transactions quickly.