I think my approach is fairly common:

• Do research on Amazon, find products, companies I want
• Leave Amazon, go directly to the company and buy it from them directly.

For example, last week I looked for a kit to grow micro-greens at home. Found one I liked, left the evil awful, bought it from the maker on their own web site. Repeat as often as you need.

Your local grocery store wherever possible.

literally anything

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.

that's the part that's bothering you? not evil corp doing evil things in the charge of its evil overlord?

Some countries have a less evil version of Amazon. Mine has shoepping.at, for example.

But also, there's very few things you actually NEED that you can't get anywhere but Amazon. My main strategy in avoiding Amazon is to just reduce my conspicuous consumption. Everything I need, I buy from brick and mortar shops: tech shop, grocery shop, textile retailer, sports shop. When I was living out of town, I'd order from the specific shops/chains website, so at least it was only them who had my address. Also, no account needed.

All of this, of course, depends on what country you live in and what your town/area has to offer. Except reducing consumption.

If you want to pay using a private cryptocurrency such as Monero, you can shop on XmrBazaar. Otherwise, you can buy a prepaid VISA with cash and find stores like eBay that accept fake personal information while ordering. Remember to ship to a PO box and not your real address (or mail to an abandoned home if you're feeling risky).

If you can, avoid online shopping altogether and use in-person stores with cash.

As others have suggested: next door local shops. And then, other online shops.

For example, here in France, the law make it so books are sold at the exact same price everywhere, be it on Amzn or in one of our local bookshops. I'd rather talk to nice human being than fill a web form, and I'd rather do business with someone that can also do business with me than send money to some billionaire. So, I order at the local shop ;)

I find almost everything I need. It just requires me:

• to go there, or to pass a phone call (it's nice talking to people or to re-learn to do it... and it's never too late to start doing it either).
• to plan my purchase, as those small shops aren't open 24/24 and don't have a bazillion and a half items in stock and they can't get it overnight either (which is good too as it helps me distinguish between what I need from what I 'stupidly' want to buy)

And for the rare few things I can't get elsewhere (at the very least I will try to directly contact the seller on Amzn), well, either I will have realized I don't really need them, or I will find some alternative or, then and only then, I will order it on Amzn which since January had not been that frequent, but that's just me.

Rakuten, maybe? Still not super privacy respecting, but moderately moreso than Amazon perhaps?

EDIT: Check that, looks like they're only in digital sales like Amazon in Japan, whereas they are just a cashback service in the USA.

Xmrbazaar, Especially if you are willing to be a seller and purchase items for other people.

We have these pickup boxes scattered around the city. On most e-shops here, you have a option to pick it up there. But you also have the option to pick it up in the shop.

IDK how it is where you are, but I don't ever give my address to stores. Even when buying online, I pick up my orders in the stores' physical offices (the delivery to your door always costs extra anyway, unlike this). Yeah, that does limit my choice, but I kinda never think about that, just go with the stores that do have offices. Unless we're talking about the biggest universal marketplaces that are pretty much our Amazon, they usually take cash. Recently, I've been ordering there without even creating an account on the websites - just asking an employee to make an order for me to later pick up at the same place.

Local walk-in store, if possible?