Amazon’s big day hits kick-off snag
Amazon’s Prime Day sale got off to a rocky start — one that kept customers from making purchases.
The online giant’s website and mobile app both suffered an outage just as Amazon’s fourth annual Prime Day sale commenced at 3 p.m. EST, according to CNBC. (As of press time, no sales figures for Prime Day were available.)
Both online and mobile shoppers faced a variety of error messages featuring the "dogs of Amazon" while trying to shop for Prime Day deals. Some users were initially unable to enter the site, while others were caught in a loop of pages urging them to "Shop all deals,” the report explained.
Customers who did successfully add items to their cart eventually received an error message when trying to checkout and complete the purchase. Other users saw the "deals" page and "Shop all deals" button disappear entirely, according to CNBC.
Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail, commented that there was no doubt that the outage would erode sales and enter some costs from buying. “The outage is especially problematic as many of Amazon's Prime deals are promoted for a set window of time - something that could cause a great deal of frustration for potential customers,” said Saunders.
“The good news is that after extensive marketing and hype, Amazon has clearly pushed demand for its Prime extravaganza to an all-time high - maybe even more than it anticipated,” he added. “Fortunately, that means the day will likely be a financial success even with the various system problems. That this year's event is longer than in previous years will also play to Amazon's advantage.
The online giant’s website and mobile app both suffered an outage just as Amazon’s fourth annual Prime Day sale commenced at 3 p.m. EST, according to CNBC. (As of press time, no sales figures for Prime Day were available.)
Both online and mobile shoppers faced a variety of error messages featuring the "dogs of Amazon" while trying to shop for Prime Day deals. Some users were initially unable to enter the site, while others were caught in a loop of pages urging them to "Shop all deals,” the report explained.
Customers who did successfully add items to their cart eventually received an error message when trying to checkout and complete the purchase. Other users saw the "deals" page and "Shop all deals" button disappear entirely, according to CNBC.
Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail, commented that there was no doubt that the outage would erode sales and enter some costs from buying. “The outage is especially problematic as many of Amazon's Prime deals are promoted for a set window of time - something that could cause a great deal of frustration for potential customers,” said Saunders.
“The good news is that after extensive marketing and hype, Amazon has clearly pushed demand for its Prime extravaganza to an all-time high - maybe even more than it anticipated,” he added. “Fortunately, that means the day will likely be a financial success even with the various system problems. That this year's event is longer than in previous years will also play to Amazon's advantage.