Analyzing the Value of an Information System

 There are many types of e-commerce information systems. For the purpose of this assignment I chose to analyze the amazon.com system. Amazon is primarily a business to consumer system. It offers a wide variety of products to consumers. The products are organized by category so the consumer can find what he or she is looking for with ease. The system also recommends products that the consumer that may be of interest to the consumer. 

 Customers have the ability to input the products they are looking for, and then the system processes the request and generates a list of related items. Amazon has the ability to streamline the distribution of a product from manufacturer to the final consumer. This is an extremely valuable feature of the system. It reduces cost to the consumer as well as to the manufacturer because it reduces the cost of distribution. 

 The Amazon system also allows the consumers to review the products they have purchased. This is a valuable feature for prospective buyers. A buyer may view a product’s specifications and features and then they are able to see what other people thought of the item after their purchase. While anyone can write a review of any product the system highlights the reviews that were written by people whom have a verified purchase of the item through Amazon. This is valuable because a prospective buyer is assured that the review actually owns or owned the item.

 The system also saves customer information. Users log into their accounts to finalize purchases. This streamlines the checkout process for the consumer. That data is then organized and Amazon may use that information to analyze customer buying patterns to better position itself for the future. The business is based entirely around their information system making it extremely valuable.