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We shopped on Amazon and Walmart-owned Jet.com to see which offered a better experience - and the winner was clear
We shopped on Amazon and Walmart-owned Jet.com to see which offered a better experience - and the winner was clear
Jessica Tyler,Jessica TylerMay 17, 2018, 00:21 IST
Jet.com
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Amazon is the one-stop shop to buy everything from fresh groceries to clothes and furniture.
Walmart-owned Jet.com sells many of the same products as Amazon, though on a smaller scale.
Jet competes in a number of ways, including by offering free two-day shipping on orders over $35.
We compared what it's like to shop on Amazon and Jet and found that they each had advantages. Overall, we found Jet to be more shopper-friendly.
Amazon has become the go-to store to buy, well, everything.
Amazon has made it possible to order everything customers might need, including groceries, clothes, and furniture, all in one place. For $12.99 a month or $119 a year, Prime members get added bonuses on top of the frequent markdowns, like free two-day shipping and access to music and video streaming services.
But Walmart-owned shopping site Jet has been making strides to compete with the e-commerce giant, like offering daily deals and free two-day shipping without membership fees. Though Jet can't compete with Amazon when it comes to certain exclusive products like Echo devices, Kindles, and streaming services, it offers JetCash, which are rewards incentives that can be used as cash on the site. It also has a private-label brand called "Uniquely J," which is designed to attract millennials by creating environmentally friendly products in artist-designed packaging.
Even though products are sometimes listed in different quantities or under different categories, the websites have a huge overlap in what they sell. To see which of the two stores had better deals and was more user-friendly, we compared common items from different categories on each site to see which site had better deals, which site had better shipping and returns policies, and how easy each website was to use.
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The prices were extremely similar on Amazon and Jet, but one of the online stores had a few clear advantages - see how they stack up:
The differences between Amazon and Jet were obvious right away. The Amazon homepage featured deals and products that were recommended based on products I've looked at before, alongside a Prime advertisement and other related ads. There were a ton of recommended products and drop-down menus.
Jet's homepage was much simpler. Fewer products were displayed, and there was nothing showing up based on other products I've viewed in the past. There were fewer menus to choose from, so I was less overwhelmed with options. The layout was pretty similar to Amazon.
Both sites had a ton of different categories, including fresh produce, electronics, clothing, makeup, and more. It was a bit of an information overload.
The structure of the categories was slightly different. For example, makeup remover was including in "makeup" on Amazon, but "skincare" on Jet. Both sites were categorized into so many smaller segments that I found it hard to actually browse for anything, but in general, Jet felt more user-friendly and less cluttered.
I looked into popular categories from each site to see how the prices and shopping experiences compared. On Amazon, all of the prices on popular products were written on the category page — there were a ton of products on the page, and they were clearly labeled.
Jet had far fewer products in each category across the whole site.
Prices were similar on the two sites. Single apples generally cost under $2, and packs of six or more cost between $4 and $7 on both sites. Amazon had a much bigger variety of groceries for sale than Jet did.
A 61-count pack of Tide Pods cost $18.97 on Amazon and $19.97 on Jet. Amazon had a greater variety of products in the household supplies category. Jet has a private label called Uniquely J that sells environmentally friendly household supplies at low prices. Amazon also has about 70 private-label brands, including household-focused brands like Presto and Mama Bear.
There were a few areas where prices differed between the sites. On Amazon, a couch from Ashley Furniture was $856.17, and the same couch was $888.05 on Jet.
Dresses from the same brands also cost less on Jet than on Amazon. Calvin Klein dresses filed under "polished day dresses" were at least double the price on Amazon than they were on Jet, and Jet had a much bigger selection in this category.
Both websites had deals of the day. On Amazon, the selection was random, with sneakers, watches, smart home devices, hair styling tools, and more, all on one page.
Jet had the deals organized by category, and you were actually able to see how much you'd be saving. Some products were marked with a small purple arrow, meaning the price would drop once you added the product to your cart. Jet shoppers can also earn JetCash — reward incentives that can be used as payment on the site.
$1 of JetCash equates to $1 off any purchase on the website. JetCash can be earned by shopping and referring friends to the site.
Jet offers free two-to-five-day shipping on every order over $35 and $5.99 shipping for smaller orders under that threshold. Amazon does offer free-shipping to non-Prime members, but it only applies to qualifying products and takes five to eight days.
Both sites accept returns within 30 days on most products. Overall, Amazon had a lot more to choose from, but Jet was more user-friendly and provided a better shopping experience.
Winner: Jet. Even though Amazon offers a lot more to choose from, Jet's design was much more straightforward. Amazon was cluttered with unrelated products and split into so many categories that it was hard to find an exact product without searching. The prices were sometimes cheaper on Amazon and sometimes cheaper on Jet, so it's hard to say which site actually offered the better deals.
Amazon offers free two-day shipping and access to streaming services with a Prime membership. But Jet has its own perks that don't require a membership, like free two-day shipping on orders over $35 and its own rewards program. Jet was more user-friendly and provided a better overall shopping experience.
