Evolution of Amazon.com
Amazon’s Webpage has had many different designs (perhaps I can even say it has evolved) throughout its active years from December 1998 until the present. The first interface available through the Internet Archive (wayback machine) shows Amazon’ website with the well recognized logo that is still the same today, a very primitive look with simple links on the left side to lead you through the website and a only a couple of ads that are not of Amazon products. Also, what they were advertising the most in 1998 were the new flip phones that included the first phone cameras known to our society.
December 1998
Less than three years later, the design was clearly different and more simplistic. The browsing bar on the right side did not evolve too much. The only things that changed on that specific part was the fact that they eliminated topics on the sidebar. I particularly prefer the broader topics in orange because they do make it easier to navigate. The upper navigation bar, on the other hand, became a bit better and broader. On the right side, instead of advertising specific products like their primary interface did, they started advertising topics for research. In a way, Amazon.com decided to separate the left browse bar into the three parts that compose the frame of the webpage. Something new that I noticed as well was that the “Sign In/Sign Up” to Amazon became much more prominent as the website became more successful. The logo also became more prominent this time, not being a part of the upper browsing bar but a thing by itself.
August 2001
https://web.archive.org/web/20010808121815/http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/subst/home/home.html
In 2005, with Amazon becoming even more popular with the years, the biggest advertisement they put on the website now is Amazon Prime. The Amazon.com logo is still positioned on the same space and showing the same importance to the website, which is still consistent until this day, except for the few months they went back to the original one for a short period of time. The left browsing bar went back to the previous design with orange topics to help browsing. The upper bar became broader, and the left bar went back to showing specific products. Another thing that was added was another Amazon ad (for Wedding Rings) right below the upper bar.
April 2005
https://web.archive.org/web/20050415234347/http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/subst/home/home.html
In 2006, they eliminated that last ad below the upper bar, the Amazon logo went back to being a part of the upper search bar. The left search bar became simpler, tighter, cleaner with the new software that came with the year, a search bar was added and highlighted to facilitate navigation, and the rest of the page remained closer to the same. At this time I guess they found the design they really wanted at the time, by simply improving a few things but keeping the rest.
August 2006
https://web.archive.org/web/20060823132317/http://www.amazon.com/
In 2010, Amazon went back to the more prominent logo, the search bar expanded, the left and right sides remained mostly the same except for a different font and size that made it look cleaner. The upper browse bar disappeared and gave space to links to Gift Cards and Today’s Deals. Amazon, again, after growing more as an industry, started presenting their new product: The First Generation Kindle, which is, by now, the most advertised object on the website.
July 2010
https://web.archive.org/web/20100714132713/http://www.amazon.com/
Two years later, the webpage still looked very similar to what it used to be. The main changes include an even cleaner left side bar and the advertised products on the right side almost disappeared. The Kindle product evolved through three different generations by then and they remained the main product throughout this time.
February 2012
https://web.archive.org/web/20120214000533/http://amazon.com/
In 2013, the left side bar became a “hidden” bar that requires the mouse to go over it in order to unveil the search topics. The right side started showing more products again, and the main product remained being the kindle.
June 2013
https://web.archive.org/web/20130615000100/http://www.amazon.com/
The most recent look for Amazon.com now contains the newest Amazon product taking over the entire page with emphasis on Amazon Prime on every corner, the right side products ads were eliminated, and the left side browse bar is still “hidden”, helping to keep the website’s look cleaner. Although, the main color around Amazon now is a dark grey instead of the regular white.
April 2015
https://web.archive.org/web/20150401001456/http://amazon.com/
Amazon was mostly consistent throughout the 17 years of being active. Their logo hasn’t changed, which is incredibly different and interesting, the website’s products remained similar, except for the fact that they expanded a few times. Each year, it seemed like their own products became more prominent and the search became easier and faster for new and old users.
