I happened across this article on the Amazon company and it mirrored my own experiences with them. I like to shop locally as much as I can but there are a wide variety of areas where my local merchant cannot either compete due to lack of space/inventory or on price. Amazon fits the bill for those areas.
How Amazon.com is thriving in a horrendous retail climate. - By Farhad Manjoo - Slate Magazine
It does seem the norm to order something at ten o'clock at night only to arrive home the next day and find it delivered one or two days early. Someone, somewhere is a protege of old Malcom MacLean who never wanted to let a ship sail empty. Obviously, if UPS has a flight leaving partially full Amazon is upgrading some customers to overnight service to fill up the flight. Basic economics dictates that UPS, Amazon, and JQ Customer all benefit.
Not coincidentally, Amazon showed growth in the past holiday season against losses by virtually all other retail firms. The economy and the world is changing. Amazon is a big part of it. I haven't done the research but I'd expect that UPS and FedEx have ridden their coattails.
I've also used their UK branch for a shipment to the Portagee. Same level of service there. The return policy is ridiculously easy in practice. These guys are the new Sears-Roebuck Company of the 21st century.