November 17, 2023, 4:27 p.m. |
Reading time: 3 minutes
Many users rely on reviews from other customers when shopping online. The better these are, the more attractive the product is. Amazon has been relying on star ratings for years. The online retailer bundles the best products in its so-called star shop.
“We have put together a selection of the highest-rated products at unbeatable prices, all conveniently in one place,” is how Amazon describes its star shop, which launched in May 2023. Here customers can find products from very different categories, but they have one thing in common – they have received a particularly high rating from buyers and are offered by Amazon at a “star price” that is “impressive”. At least that’s what the dealer promised. But why is Amazon “hiding” the new star shop from its customers?
Amazon star shop only accessible via direct link
The online retailer usually advertises new offers on its website. At least the most important shops such as Amazon Fresh and Outlet, the Luxury Stores or Handmade can also be found as tabs on the homepage or in the app. Not so with the star shop, which Amazon does not list here. But the launch didn’t take place entirely without advertising. As Amazon informed us in response to TECHBOOK’s request, various advertising measures were implemented to increase awareness. “Among other things, we ran a social media campaign and display ads outside of the site,” an Amazon spokesperson explains to us.
The star shop can only be found if you search for it on Google or the direct link knows. Both paths lead to a subpage of the well-known Amazon homepage, which is divided into different categories such as electronics, video and audio, home and garden, fashion, household and sport. Within these categories, Amazon lists suitable products in the new shop that have been rated four stars or more by buyers. What is striking is that the items mostly come from well-known manufacturers. The large number of Chinese products that often come up when searching in the regular Amazon shop are not available here. This makes searching for high-quality goods in Amazon’s star shop much easier.
“The star shop offers Amazon customers products at an attractive price-performance ratio: from electronics to household goods to toys and much more, including popular items from major brands,” said the Amazon spokesman. “The reviews are an important part of the star shop selection and help customers make the purchase decision for the products they want.”
How cheap are the offers really?
But what about the prices? Does Amazon really offer the goods in the new shop at “star prices”? We did a few spot checks.
Amazon charges 94 euros for the AVM WLAN repeater 2400. A price comparison at Idealo shows that this is currently the cheapest offer. The same applies to the Kult X Mix & Go Mini smoothie maker from WMF. This costs 37.98 euros at Amazon, but at least 41.50 euros at other retailers, as they still incur shipping costs.
For example, customers have no savings compared to other providers with the portable Bluetooth speaker JBL Clip, which Amazon and other retailers offer for 49.99 euros. The Sonos Move is even more expensive on the online giant at 301.94 euros, because the speaker is available elsewhere for 289 euros. It turns out that customers shouldn’t rely on getting the best price in Amazon’s star shop. A price comparison is definitely worth it.