Hello everyone,
We completed our experiment where we compared Amazon and Google Shopping. We first developed a pretty random list of 20 items ranging from household goods to a cello set. We took that shopping list and searched on both Amazon and Google Shopping.
All of our items were found on Amazon, but four of our items were not found through Google Shopping. We compared the base price, tax, shipping cost and delivery time for each item. We found that Google Shopping returned a total cost that was an average of 6% less than Amazon. However, we also found that we were unable to determine the time to delivery on 50% of the items on our list. Amazon guaranteed delivery in 3 days (on average). Of the items where delivery could be determined through Google Shopping, the average delivery time was 9 days.
Finally, we found that Google Shopping (being the web mining site it is), sent us to many different web sites to purchase our items. If we were to purchase every item on our list, we would be buying from a total of 12 different web sites. With Amazon we only had to order through Amazon.
In reality, comparing Amazon and Google Shopping is not a completely equitable process. The two sites have somewhat different purposes and business models.
More to come next week!
That's a great, very clear, and simple experiment. And you did a great job explaining what you did. I've never used Google Shopping, (or even heard about it) but does it send you to professional websites or online stores or does it just send you to anywhere on the Web where it found what you searched for sale?
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting experiment! I have never used Amazon or Google shopping before, but from the looks of it I think I would prefer using Amazon. It sounds easier and more convenient. Exellent work.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great experiment, it was very informative. I've used Amazon for shopping a lot, just because its so easy to use. I never knew that Google actually had shopping, and the way that it works is quite unique. It gives me ideas for my next experiment, because I have a tendency to write too much detail and it becomes really boring to read haha. Anyhow great post man.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the positive comments everyone.
ReplyDeleteEvan - for the most part, Google Shopping sends you to professional websites. I found that it hit eBay a lot. Now, I don't know that I would call all the sellers on eBay professional sellers.
I think that the experiment that was completed was done very well. I did not know that when ordering something from Google that you would get sent to different web sites to purchase the items that you want to buy. I do not order a lot online but if I do order I think I would rather use Amazon. Great job!
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