After I put as Amazon banner on my College Essentials website I was not sure how valuable it would be, although it sounded like it should be well suited to a site aiming to help students buy all the stuff they needed when going back to college. My concern was that Amazon was already very well known to students, so there were plenty of Amazon offers out there in the market, including on the right hand side column of the same web page I was planning for my own student offers.
When I looked at what was offered through the banner I was very pleased by the range of goods for sale: Everything from books (of course) to pens and pencils, laptops and netbooks; from snackbars and toothpaste through chairs and futons. It is clearly aimed at American students heading back to college, or perhaps starting for the first time, and is very comprehenisve. There are also special offers and discounts for regular purchases of goods that will be needed through the college year.
Of course, Amazon's College Essential range is by definition is aimed towards the student market, but for others it is easy to click away to other parts of the online store. Another obvious drawback for students, or anyone else used to digital products being immediate downloaded is having to wait for goods to be delivered for. Also, shipping costs soon add up quite fast. Luckily, the cost of distribution and the problem of waiting for goods to arrive can be offset by a free two-day shipping offer to new customers of the Amazon Prime service.
It is worth mentioning that many if the goods on offer at the College Essentiails banner would be great for anyone setting up home for the first time.
Many of the goods on offer via this banner are only available on those terms in the USA. As a result, some of Amazon's millions of customers will be disappointed. But this site is aimed at the US student market and many of the items could be found by using the search function on local Amazon sites, though probably not with the same range and depth of choice.
I am glad I added the Amazon College Essentials promotion to my website and will be looking to add other offers in future.
