You can’t turn on your computer today without seeing “Prime Day Fail” plastered all over the place – but was it really? I can see both sides to the argument:
FAIL
Angry Customers. People are calling the event Amazon “garage day sale” and littering social media with hashtags like: #unhappyPrimeDay, #AmazonFail, #gobacktosleep, and #PrimeDayFail. But is it actually enough to change people’s future buying behavior on the site?
Waitlist. What the hell is that? The real answer is that when another customer has a lightning deal in their cart and does not process the purchase within 15 minutes, the item goes to the next person on the waitlist. It makes sense – but no one wants to be put on a second-class waitlist, it’s annoying.
Offering sh*t that no one wants. I have never seen so much heart shaped jewelry as I did while browsing through the Lightning Deals last evening. Gizmodo did an amazing job of compiling these ridiculous items in one compact list, here. “Garage sale” is sounding more and more like an accurate description.
SUCCESS
Traffic. Regardless if people were left feeling unhappy, the media hype surrounding the event still drove record amounts of traffic to Amazon.com (more than Black Friday as predicted). And even if you didn’t pick up a lightning deal – you probably still made a purchase. I know I did — who can pass up dog food being delivered right to your front door?! And finally ordering those speakers that have been in my cart.
New Prime Memberships. Sure – you can get it for free for 30 days and then cancel without committing to the $99/year. But let’s be honest – there is going to be a significant number of accounts that do not opt out after the initial 30 days, thereby automatically committing for at least a year. And that equals a success for Amazon – hook, line and sinker.
Awareness. Did you know the Lightning Deals existed way before Prime Day? They did. And now you know to look for them on the reg. I’ve been following them on Twitter for a few years now, and picked up a sweet Kate Spade watch for myself just a few weeks ago!
what others are saying
Time kudos on collecting some the days best pant-wettingly funny tweets.
ADWEEK my love, I just can’t quit you and your witty commentary.
Forbes tells it how it is, hard stats and all.
The thing that made me laugh the most was when searching “Amazon Fail Day” on Google, Amazon is paying for an ad to appear at the top of the search result. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. Well played, Amazon!
What do you think? Come on now, don’t be shy!
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