I usually know what I want, too. But I still read the reviews. AND Amazon does suck me in by telling me what other people buying the book I want are reading -- I will often just look at that list for fun, get sucked into the reviews, and sometimes buy something I didn't go there for at all in the first place.
A recent study showed that 45% of all supermarket buys are impulse buys. I don't know what the corresponding number is for the web, but it's certainly something, and that's where you can make your profits.
Occasionally I just want a slam-bam-thank-you-Amazon purchase. For that their one click shopping is perfect. Hit the site, search and find, one click, leave. They're very good at that.
But more often, I want my web shopping time to be fun and pleasant. I want something more than "give me the book, ma'am, just the book." The web is an interactive media--there are times when I want to interact! And Amazon is much better than Borders at that. |
