E-Commerce Becoming More Than Online Shopping

Chances are you have bought something online. That “something” could have been a part for your car, a television, an mp3 or one of millions of other items. Up until recently, the shopping experience ended there. While e-commerce websites like Amazon have thrived on making it easier for consumers to find exactly what they want at a competitive price, their services ended after said item was shipped. All of that is about to change.

Major players in the e-commerce world, like Amazon, want to move past the screen and into your home by connecting you with home service professionals. Similar to Angie’s List, the current leader in the market. For example, say you buy a $1,200 TV but you are worried about its set up and installation. No worries, Amazon will provide a list of industry professionals that can do the job. Tack on the additional price and schedule a date and time for the service and you have truly one-stop shopped.

Amazon is not the lone competitor in the market. Google is exploring how it could play a role alongside a laundry list of startups that also want a piece of the pie. The general idea is to link virtually unknown and low-tech businesses to consumers who are in need of their service. There’s a tremendous amount of opportunity to connect consumers to electricians, plumbers and all kinds of manual labor. There’s also a tremendous amount of money at stake, about $400 billion according to the New York Times.

While well-known and well-respected competitors enter the market, Angie’s List is not going away quietly. They want to stay ahead and have done so with features like SnapFix, a mobile app that allows a homeowner to a take photo of a household item in need of repair and receive bids to fix it. This is likely great for consumers, as competition will bring new innovation and adjusted pricing.

Try out Amazon Home Services for yourself.

Photo courtesy of: Zhao