The Amazon Effect: Driving Ever Increasing Customer Expectations

Many manufacturers and wholesale distributors have been profoundly impacted by the

Amazon Effect, even if they don’t compete directly with Amazon. The “Amazon Effect” refers to Amazon’s influence, dramatically raising customer expectations including:
1. Frictionless commerce (epitomized by Amazon’s 1‐click checkout and Amazon Go)
2. Extremely fast, low cost, or free delivery, with precise real-time tracking and easy returns
3. Nearly infinite selection; breadth and depth of products
4. Rich product search, filtering, and product information
5. Meaningful reviews and ratings
6. Personalization

These expectations reach beyond the retail industry. In fact, the boundaries between retailers, manufacturers, and wholesale distributors have become ever more blurred.

Customers, whether consumers or businesses, expect to be able to view in‐depth product information, configure, order, check status, and potentially request returns or report issues online 24/7.