I'm still a huge Amazon consumer. Especially when I'm at an APO for a while. But like Ben alluded to they've kind of replaced the niche WalMart used to fill. Cheap, convenient, kind of meh quality goods. It doesn't annoy me because I know what I'm getting, and I tend not to buy anything there that would be low hanging fruit for the counterfeiters.
Hawk likes Wranglers. I used to wear Dickies or Wranglers myself, but even the real ones have gone down in quality so much I don't really bother. The last set of Dickies I got (from a Dickies outlet store, so real) were so thin they effectively weren't work jeans anymore. If I want tough clothes I just go to Duluth Trading and pay what they cost.
Same with outdoor gear**. If I want something generic and meh, Amazon will have it to me in two days. If I want good gear, I just got to Osprey, Arc'tyryx, Marmot, or wherever and buy good gear.
I could go on for a while.
Part of it is that with the explosion of e-commerce there's basically no cost for a manufacturer to have a website and sell direct, and there's effectively no regional pricing differences. Everyone can cross shop the entire US in about 5 mins, and makers can undercut retailers that are charging large markups, and cut distributors out completely. The market then means that if you find a good price on something it is either 1. available at that price pretty much everywhere, or 2. not actually what you think it is (fake, or a Walmart-esque special SKU with cheaper materials).
And so to continue making a profit Amazon devolves towards what Ebay has become. Reselling cheap *expletive deleted*it that was imported in large enough amounts that economies of scale can actually effect the price, or fake *expletive deleted*it.
The plus side of all this is in the race to the bottom price for consumer goods, spots in the market actually open back up for US* made stuff that is appreciably higher quality and cost, but folks are willing to pay more for. Clothes, outdoor goods (as mentioned), tools are starting to do this, I've seen some cookware, knives definitely, soap (of all things), even some consumer electronics and kitchen stuff, all can be had high at higher quality for more money if you like. And since more people do like, there is competition at that "higher quality" market spot so prices are still not bad. I've been eyeing some good cast iron, and there's like three or four high quality, US made, boutique cast iron cookware makers in the US right now.
*North America actually, Canada is making more stuff again as well.
**A bunch of that stuff is still made in Asia, but getting it from the manufacturer ensures manufacturer level QC, and often Asia =/= China for this stuff.