I already made browser suggestions https://lemmy.ml/post/29712598/18453254 but I would also add Ceno https://ceno.network/ in the 5th layer due to its P2P and caching nature.

It is not. It is hard only if you are lazy, sorry to be so blunt.

Amazon works because they are :

• the top links on search engine for a lot of stuff
• very popular and thus misconstrued as trusted
• relatively cheap by either abusing its monopoly position and/or selling shitty products that are even cheaper where they come originally from, e.g. AliExpress

So… as others said here, nearly anything else is better. I left Amazon years ago and basically now my preference is :

• local specialized shops next door, e.g. butcher, fruit monger, florist, farmer market, bike shop, repair shop, etc
• local generic shops, e.g. small supermarket
• city level shops, e.g. sportswear shops
• nation wide shops with delivery, here in Belgium it would be Bol.com for … anything, for IT it’d be CoolBlue, for sports Decathlon, etc
• international shops directly from producers, lastly it was NitroKey from Germany (as I’m based in the EU I look for EU alternative first)

So… this is actually both easy and convenient because each time it becomes easier. You get to know the owners of the local shop, you get to have accounts on the different online websites. You get to actually talk to actual humans, even from online shops. Last example being buying RollerBlades from a Danish shop and nearly 1 year later, a screw went loose so they shipped me for free a replacement just because I explain the problem via email directly to them.

In the end I’m happier since. I felt like I’m contributing to a better neighborhood and I’m more mindful about my choices. This is even more the case since Trumps tariffs.

On browsers, as you put Chromium then also put Firefox or deMozillaed Firefox e.g. WaterFox.

I’d put Brave back to the 2nd layer due to relying on Chromium and being heavily marketed while gathering data for its crypto scheme. I’d also put Firefox on the 2nd or 3rd layer.