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Amazon Expands Into Home Services Market, Solidifying Its Position as the Company That Just Keeps Growing

And to think, it all started with books.

Amazon.com Inc. announced its latest major move Monday, which will allow the e-commerce site to expand into the home services market. It’s yet another business venture that proves Amazon is the digital giant that just keeps growing.

For years, Amazon has dominated the e-commerce space and reigned supreme over its competitors whenever consumers were trying to have their online shopping needs met.

Now, the company is adding Amazon Home Services to its ever-expanding list of resources.

It’s a move that may have solidified Amazon as a true one-stop shop.

“Third party estimates show that customers spend four times more on services each year than they do on physical products,” Peter Faricy, vice president of Amazon Marketplace told Reuters. “So for us the opportunity is very big.”

Nearly 85 million Amazon shoppers purchase things from the site that require some sort of installation or servicing, Reuters reported. This often forces consumers to take on the grueling task of installing the new purchase on their own or budget additional money to find a third-party installation service that could turn out to be scam, overpriced or just provide poor quality of work.

That’s where Amazon’s new venture steps in.

Amazon Home Services now makes it possible for consumers all across the nation to purchase their brand new washer and dryer while also finding a certified professional to install the new machines.

This takes the additional work off the consumers’ hands while also ensuring better pricing and quality of service under the Amazon guarantee.

Amazon will also offer price matching to consumers who find another third-party installation or servicing company willing to complete the same job for a lower rate than what was originally quoted by Amazon.

The move will put Amazon’s new service in direct competition with companies like Angie’s List, Craigslist, and Yelp, with Amazon having a clear advantage over its new rivals.

Craigslist is still in the midst of trying to conquer years of negative publicity caused by dishonest users and scam artists on the site.

While Angie’s List and Yelp don’t have any major public relations battles to fight, they also don’t tout the same message of sheer convenience.

Amazon is offering an option that will not only attract new users but also benefit the many users who are already loyally and faithfully turning to Amazon whenever they need to make a purchase.

Yet again, Amazon proves to be the king of a successfully evolving business.

When Amazon first surfaced on the Web, it was all about selling books online. Eventually, the e-commerce site expanded to other forms of media including DVDs and CDs.

As the way people consumed media continued to change, however, it seemed like it would be nearly impossible for bookstores and media rental companies to keep up.

Book stores were forced to close their doors, and companies like Blockbusters took a major hit.

Amazon, however, adapted flawlessly.

Amazon began offering video games, apparel, furniture, toys, jewelry and anything else a person would possibly be looking to buy online.

The growth only continued as Amazon became a tech giant, releasing its collection of Kindle e-book readers and Fire Tablets.

With movie-streaming services, music download options and now a home services market, Amazon has made it clear that it is ready and willing to evolve with the rapidly changing nature of consumer demands.

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Could Amazon’s New Fire TV Stick Help It Recover From Epic Smartphone Failure?

Amazon may have made a major misstep when it comes to its flagship smartphone, but could the company’s Amazon Fire TV Stick actually go head-to-head with Google Chromecast and Roku Streaming Stick?

The major failure that followed after the launch of Amazon’s first smartphone was painful to watch for many tech lovers and fans of the company.

Sales of the device were less than impressive, and AT&T, who partnered with Amazon to push the phone, quickly lost its enthusiasm for the product.

Despite the flagship phone flop, Amazon has had some technology successes in the past (take the Kindle, for example) and the company is hoping to mimic that success with the launch of its Fire TV Stick.

The tiny stick is able to plug directly into consumers’ TV’s HDMI ports and will be able to bring a world of viewing pleasure to those who purchase it.

The Fire TV Stick will support Amazon Prime Instant video and music, Netflix, Pandora, Spotify, Hulu and more, according to Mashable.

It will also be able to support the needs of the average gamer. Nothing quite as extensive and demanding as the console-level gaming that is supported by Amazon’s Fire TV box, but still pretty impressive for the little stick that can slip into one’s back pocket.

Of course, if the product is sounding pretty familiar to you – a simple stick that allows you to stream a large variety of media content on multiple supported platforms – there is an obvious reason for that.

Amazon’s Fire TV Stick isn’t necessarily innovative, as it is simply Amazon’s take on Google’s Chromecast and the Roku Streaming Stick.

Amazon’s version does, however, come with a few perks.

Amazon’s product does boast more storage than Google’s Chromecast.

Google’s product gives consumers 2 GB of storage in Google Chrome while Amazon’s Fire Stick will give consumers an impressive 8 GB of storage.

Then there is also that nifty little remote.

While this is a perk that Chromecast users don’t get, it’s not too great of an advantage and it is something that Roku has already delivered on in the past.

As for Chromecast users, they have to use an app that will allow them to use their cellphones as remote controls and, quite frankly, most consumers don’t mind that at all.

Amazon’s Fire TV Stick may also deliver slightly short on its promise of wonderful arrays of content. The content that is available is certainly impressive and there is more than enough available materials for the average TV watcher, but some of the most popular titles won’t be making their way to the device just yet.

The Fire TV Stick does not support HBO Go.

While Google’s stick also doesn’t support Amazon content, it’s  more likely that consumers will be more upset over not having HBO Go than they will over not having access to Amazon’s content.

Of all the competitors, however, it seems like Amazon’s Fire TV Stick has the upper hand when it comes to gaming, according to Time.

Time also points out that there is no way anyone can lose by purchasing any of the three sticks.

What this means is that Amazon may have a product that can indeed keep up with its pre-existing competition, but the company may have needed a little more edge to its product in order to really beat out its counterparts.