Has Amazon Shaped Ecommerce Expectations?

You bet your sweet bippy Amazon has shaped consumers expectations around the digital shopping experience - how could they not?

PowerReviews, a well-known provider of ratings, reviews and QnA (question-and-answer) technology for brands and retailers, has released a new research paper detailing Amazon's rise and how the retailer's dominance has changed shopper expectations. The survey found that 71 percent of shoppers make at least one Amazon purchase a month. Shoppers cited the variety of products (79 percent), free shipping (64 percent), better deals (60 percent), volume of customer reviews (55 percent), search capabilities (54 percent), and mobile experience (29 percent) as reasons for doing so.

Additionally, 70 percent of surveyed shoppers use brand or retailer sites to research their purchase before navigating to Amazon to complete the transaction, a cause of frustration for retailers. Amazon is shaping the ecommerce landscape with detailed product information, authentic user generated content, and loyalty perks that consumers now expect.

"Amazon accounted for almost half of all 2016 online holiday sales and is the undisputed ecommerce market leader. Our survey found that consumers biggest pain point pre- and post- purchase was not having enough information. Amazon provides rich content in the form of product reviews, photos, videos and descriptions to build trust. Consumers have come to not only rely on this information but expect brands and retailers to provide it as well," said Matt Moog, chief executive officer, PowerReviews. "Retailers are under no illusion about the competition they face but they have the tools compete and win by providing relevant content and by utilizing loyalty programs to increase engagement and conversion."