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An interesting thing about Amazon outages like this is that most people wait and come back and make the purchase.

by ronnier 5y ago

MattGaiser 5y ago
Everyone else will still make me wait several days or make me go to a store.
paxys 5y ago
A lot of people who would have made impulse purchases don't though, once they have had time to reconsider.
- MetaWhirledPeas 5y ago
  Right but when they return how do you distinguish between a new impulse and a continuation of the old? This is one of those cases where marketers and businesses love to act like they know everything when in fact it's a huge info blind spot.
- 6c696e7578 5y ago
  There's probably a lot less going to landfill today. That said, maybe more getting thrashed too: https://www.itv.com/news/2021-06-21/amazon-destroying-millions-of-items-of-unsold-stock-in-one-of-its-uk-warehouses-every-year-itv-news-investigation-finds https://www.itv.com/news/2021-06-21/amazon-destroying-millio...
colanderman 5y ago
Not too surprising I think... for myself and I suspect many/most, the calculus is something like: A) check back in half an hour when Amazon will probably be working again or B) (1) find another online retailer which sells the kind of stuff I'm looking for (2) get the specific items I want in my cart (3) find my credit card (4) make an account (5) re-enter all my shipping information (6) shell out extra for shipping (7) repeat if I could not find a single retailer that sells all the items I wanted (8) curse myself the next day for committing to a retailer with slower shipping, unfamiliar returns process, etc., because I was too impatient to wait an hour for Amazon to be back up. Not all of the steps in B apply to everyone of course. But it only takes a couple to make option A the winner, which I'd hazard is the case for many many Amazon shoppers.
- 6c696e7578 5y ago
  There's an element to slow shipping that has less effect today, since we're starting the week, it doesn't matter if things turn up tomorrow or Friday if it is for weekend DIY projects. I wouldn't mind using another retailer today and near enough forget about it until the weekend. If by some chance it doesn't arrive until the following Tuesday, it doesn't matter, I'll find something else to do at the weekend quickly enough! However, if you need it pronto, I'd rather pay for a courier. Many people have grown up with Amazon, and in the early day it looked like they were undercutting retail from top to bottom, making the highstreet look like the bad guys. As their warehouses get exposed, and the issues of no union appear, I'm less likely to buy from Amazon as I think there are ethics involved that need consideration. Do I really want to buy something knowing that a poor soul was probably operating at 98%, just below maximum threshold before collapse to get this item boxed?
  - colanderman 5y ago
    Ok so, option C: philosophize for a while, then follow option B. For the vast majority of customers, the calculus during an Amazon outage still favors option A.

An interesting thing about Amazon outages like this is that most people wait and come back and make the purchase.

MattGaiser 5y ago

Everyone else will still make me wait several days or make me go to a store.

paxys 5y ago

A lot of people who would have made impulse purchases don't though, once they have had time to reconsider.

MetaWhirledPeas 5y ago
Right but when they return how do you distinguish between a new impulse and a continuation of the old? This is one of those cases where marketers and businesses love to act like they know everything when in fact it's a huge info blind spot.
6c696e7578 5y ago
There's probably a lot less going to landfill today. That said, maybe more getting thrashed too: https://www.itv.com/news/2021-06-21/amazon-destroying-millions-of-items-of-unsold-stock-in-one-of-its-uk-warehouses-every-year-itv-news-investigation-finds https://www.itv.com/news/2021-06-21/amazon-destroying-millio...

colanderman 5y ago

Not too surprising I think... for myself and I suspect many/most, the calculus is something like: A) check back in half an hour when Amazon will probably be working again or B) (1) find another online retailer which sells the kind of stuff I'm looking for (2) get the specific items I want in my cart (3) find my credit card (4) make an account (5) re-enter all my shipping information (6) shell out extra for shipping (7) repeat if I could not find a single retailer that sells all the items I wanted (8) curse myself the next day for committing to a retailer with slower shipping, unfamiliar returns process, etc., because I was too impatient to wait an hour for Amazon to be back up. Not all of the steps in B apply to everyone of course. But it only takes a couple to make option A the winner, which I'd hazard is the case for many many Amazon shoppers.

6c696e7578 5y ago
There's an element to slow shipping that has less effect today, since we're starting the week, it doesn't matter if things turn up tomorrow or Friday if it is for weekend DIY projects. I wouldn't mind using another retailer today and near enough forget about it until the weekend. If by some chance it doesn't arrive until the following Tuesday, it doesn't matter, I'll find something else to do at the weekend quickly enough! However, if you need it pronto, I'd rather pay for a courier. Many people have grown up with Amazon, and in the early day it looked like they were undercutting retail from top to bottom, making the highstreet look like the bad guys. As their warehouses get exposed, and the issues of no union appear, I'm less likely to buy from Amazon as I think there are ethics involved that need consideration. Do I really want to buy something knowing that a poor soul was probably operating at 98%, just below maximum threshold before collapse to get this item boxed?
- colanderman 5y ago
  Ok so, option C: philosophize for a while, then follow option B. For the vast majority of customers, the calculus during an Amazon outage still favors option A.