Jet.com is a different kind of online shopping experience that aims to change the mindset of how people shop online while giving some great deals to its customers. As a user during the beta test period for the store, I've been able to put the site through its paces and so far, there's a lot to like.
Jet is a warehouse club which combines elements of brick and mortar rivals like Costco and the convenience of a one-stop online superstore like Amazon. Membership in the club is $49 per year, though a free three-month trial is currently available.
Jet offers millions of products, including a wide selection of groceries, books, clothing, electronics, and other items. Prices were competitive with other online stores in most cases, with increased savings as you buy more as explained below. The search features could use some improvement, especially when trying to rummage through 20 very similar products, for instance.
Jet's service offers some of the standard features of online stores: free shipping on orders of $35 or more, free returns, and a streamlined checking process. But where Jet departs from others is the additional discounts it offers its shoppers for behaviors that save everyone money. The savings start to pile up as you add more items to your cart. Jet smartly realizes that it is cheaper to ship items from the same warehouse, and passes some of this savings along to the customer. When adding items to your cart, the amount saved is shown front and center so you can see how much money you are saving. I really started to notice a sizeable savings when adding several small grocery and household items to my cart, making Jet a viable option for purchasing nonperishable food items. Jet also offers slight discounts for using various payment methods, or for waiving returns on an order.
I've placed three orders with Jet now, and they have all arrived within 3-5 days, often sooner. It would be nice to have a guaranteed delivery date which is a feature of Amazon prime, but for less time-critical orders, this limitation isn't a big deal. Returning an item was also rather painless, and Jet offered a free return label as promised. The biggest hassle was getting to a nearby FedEx store.
As for accessibility, I'd call the current website sufficient, though some improvements could be made in some specific areas, including product detail pages and on the shopping cart. That being said, experienced web users should have few problems navigating the jet.com site.
Is Jet worth the $49 annual fee? That'll depend on how much you use the service and if online shopping is a big part of your life. I've placed more than two dozen Amazon orders in the past six months, so clearly I'm the type of person who falls within Jet's demographic. For now, I'm planning on using Jet but keeping my Amazon Prime membership, but as the site evolves, I could see this dynamic changing. That being said, Jet is an up-and-coming website to watch, and may be an excellent addition to your online arsenal.
Source: JetCategory: Articles
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J.J. Meddaugh is an experienced technology writer and computer enthusiast. He is a graduate of Western Michigan University with a major in telecommunications management and a minor in business. When not writing for Blind Bargains, he enjoys travel, playing the keyboard, and meeting new people.
