SecEnthusiast

I've enjoyed the look and feel of this garden center, and have always had all my questions answered, from how to take care of certain vines to treating diseases common in Dogwood trees. I've placed many orders for mulch here specifically because of the opportunity to use their truck to take it to my residence. Without that feature, I'd have no way to transport the mulch or stone to a location.

Strengths: Family-owned, this garden center houses experts in landscaping, plant growth and maintenance. They are capable of contractor-led large volume mulch and stone projects, and even maintain a fleet of trucks that can be used for deliveries.

Needs to improve: Surrounded on both sides by commercial properties, their inventory is limited due to property size constraints, but can project future demand to meet projects on a custom order basis.

I've order many different types of print orders with Vista Print, ranging from business cards to wedding invitations. On the occasion of wedding invitations for a client, the materials arrived on time, but showed an obvious fading of the print ink and were definitely unacceptable. After one conversation with their customer service, a duplicate order was setup and placed in the queue with priority shipping, free of charge. The second order arrived in the mail only days later, and were perfect. I am impressed by their trust in the customer, saving time by foregoing sending the first order back as proof.

Strengths: They make it a simple and easy process to solve print requirements while offering frequent promotional discounts. Volume orders are no problem and their customer service is friendly, and willing to work with you if your order isn't exactly as expected.

Needs to improve: Their price scaling can be a bit misleading, where a service begins at a low, appealing figure and ends in the realm of obscene. Be careful which options and materials you select, or you will quickly overspend on your order.

Every experience I've had with Tiger Direct has been a positive outcome without any reason for complaint. Their shipping is always on time, store representatives are always courteous and helpful, and their prices somewhat competitive. I've enjoyed the many products I've purchased there, which range from keyboards, to USB thumb drives, to 60" televisions.

Strengths: Tiger Direct is well-known in the IT community for its extensive selection of computer peripherals and components. They have grown behind the web to supporting brick and mortar stores that boast an equally diverse collection.

Needs to improve: Unfortunately, the market is not overly demanding for the industry this business targets. Storefronts often go without an abundance of consumers and close after a few months. Their advertisements are noisy, never helping them to stand out from every other business that sells similar products.

I've enjoyed most of the products manufactured by 3M, but often hesitate to purchase more than is absolutely necessary because of their price points.

Strengths: They have established themselves as the de facto standard for adhesive products that work, while leaving your surfaces tamper-free. Their products just work, and they work well. Because they have dominated the market, their products are in virtually every store that sells office supplies, including grocery stores.

Needs to improve: Their prices reflect the higher quality of product that consumers require, but often do not want to spend the extra money to afford. Shipping supplies are more competitively priced than wall adhesive products, which can go as has as $15 for a single hook.

By far one of the best online marketplaces out there.

Strengths: Streamlined the logistics of distribution and shipping.
Provided an avenue for small business to maintain an online marketplace.
Balance costs to consumer effectively

Needs to improve: Huge surplus of inventory often makes it difficult to locate the needle in the haystack. On few occasions, products were not exactly as expected based on just pictures and average reviews.