November 5th, 2021. This post discusses experience analysis in the process of buying a product on Amazon.com’s mobile app. 

What are my expectations? What is the source of those expectations?

Amazon Corporation has focused on the customer experience from the beginning when they were primarily an online book reseller. As the internet shopping platform has expanded to sell almost anything and huge advancements have been made on mobile devices, my expectation is that it will be easy to make a purchase and that the process will be very apparent and simple. I also expect to be able to confirm that the product is the correct item by seeing clear product information, related products, and customer reviews of the product. My expectations are based on past experiences with online shopping through Amazon’s desktop site, eBay shopping, and general online shopping purchases in the past. Also, as online shopping has become highly competitive, I feel some degree of entitlement to an easy and smooth shopping experience.

 

What do I notice about the store I’m purchasing the product in? If I’m purchasing online, what is the website trying to say to me?
The app/site has a star rating and a banner that endorses this product/vendor. They are trying to assure me that buying through their site is safe and valid by showing a rating in the upper right corner (in this case 5 stars out of 9,038 reviews). As I scroll down, there are two large boxes indicating options for purchase, an upsell offering insurance, the price, and “FREE Returns” further insuring me that a purchase is safe, and a financing offer that allows me to spread my purchase cost over 6 months. Then I’m given two choices, “Add to cart” or “Buy Now”. The scrolling down process is a sales funnel with peripheral information then starting after the option to buy in case the customer needs further information such as the product description, FAQ’s and reviews. 

What do I notice about the packaging and the product itself?

There are six photos of the product and a video at the top of the screen that scrolls easily and shows high-resolution professional-quality photos of the video. The product looks great and the video shows the product in use (in this case the product is a photo/video drone). In the title, there are also key features mentioned. 

What about using the product? What am I thinking and how do I feel as I use the product?

As I set up and fly the drone, I’m amazed that something so technical and complex is designed to synchronize with the DJI app on my phone easily, offers built-in tutorials as I begin flying the drone for the first time, and seems to work right out of the box. I feel very confident as I fly the drone higher, seeing from my phone which nests in the top of the remote the surrounding area from a birds-eye view. Sounds from the remote and clear indicators in the app help me take some photos and videos, use special features, and avoid crashing the drone. You can see one of the key features, a panorama photo mode, below. 

The baked-in software stitches a series of wide-angle photos together to make an ultrawide shot similar to an ultrawide lens photograph. The drone has several photographic modes in this updated version of the Mavic Mini. You can read about the differences between the two versions on Techradar.

My observation is that buying things on Amazon seems really user-friendly, convenient, and because they have free returns it is safe to do so without worrying that returning a defective or incorrect product will be costly/inconvenient.

While my experience has been great overall, one thing I noticed when searching for the product is that many competing products are also offered, as well as a variation of this product that includes non-original manufactured parts (SD cards, propeller guards, and carrying cases). While having more options can sometimes be helpful, I specifically searched for this product and could have accidentally ordered a variation or similar-looking but less quality drone without seeing much difference in the product page since all products on Amazon are encompassed by the Amazon User Interface. Perhaps if Amazon offered brands minor customization options within their product posts on the site/app, this would help well-established brands or vendors clarify to the buyer that they are buying direct and genuine products.

If you’re interested in seeing more drone photos please follow me on Instagram@loftvisual. To purchase this drone and help support this blog, please use this affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3nZwI5H. 

Thanks for reading and happy flying!

Daniel