

Why shopping on mobile is broken - rjjacobson
http://blog.getrockerbox.com/post/hello-from-rockerbox

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andyjsong
I use my phone in a different way to purchase products. I was recently on a
camping trip and we were playing a game of "Cards Against Humanity," I thought
it was fun and wanted to buy a set. I fired up Amazon's app and scanned the
barcode. Confirmed the purchase and then in a 3-5 days I had the game. It took
less than 20 seconds even with limited internet connectivity.

In this case, I got to test out the product, liked it and bought one for
myself. I don't know if I would do the same with swiping left and right to get
a product that I would ultimately purchase without trying it out first, unless
there were some solid reviews backing up the product.

There are apps like Fancy, but they are image heavy and slow to load. I really
don't think it's the right strategy in getting people to buy a product.

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jeffehobbs
Amazon works great on mobile. Sounds like shopping on mobile is broken _for
you_.

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rickotoole
I agree, Amazon has put together a great product for mobile when you know what
you are looking to buy, similar to the use case described by andy andyjsong.
However, I would argue that this use case does not capture all shopping
experiences. Many shoppers are preference oriented and need a way to browse
through products while making a decision (e.g, apparel, travel)

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codenerdz
I dont know, its not broken for me: I cant tell you how many times ive
compared prices for something im looking at to Amazon and placed an order
right there if the price difference was significant enough.

Where does Rockerbox source the products it sells? Is it simply a mobile
facade for a shopping.com API or amazon referrals?

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rjjacobson
Amazon is great for getting a pricing point of comparison - can't argue with
that. In fact Amazon is great if you know exactly what you want to be / for
finding the best price. I'd argue it's not the best place to find what you
want.

We source from each individual retailer. No APIs.

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codenerdz
>> Amazon is great for getting a pricing point of comparison - can't argue
with that. In fact Amazon is great if you know exactly what you want to be /
for finding the best price. I'd argue it's not the best place to find what you
want.

Im not sure I understand your argument: are you saying that amazon mobile
suffers from item availability and/or discoverability?

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rjjacobson
Primarily discoverability.

For example, if I know I want a new iPod dock - sorting through all of the
potential products and processing all of the information associated through
each one is a lot of work. Amazon doesn't do a great job of making this
process simpler.

Availability is also an issue with clothing in particular.

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DGCA
Swipe one way to like, the other to dislike? I do not like that. I'm used to
navigating forward and back using those gestures.

Also, and I know I'm being nitpicky, but there's an empty button on the top
right of your mockup.

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zeckalpha
What about the additional security implications?

