Amazon's Prime Day is Here. Let's Remember Project Nessie, Shall We?
The secret algorithm that led to an extra $1 billion for the mega corp
It’s Prime Day again. Oh, sorry, Prime Week, I guess. By now we’re aware. We see the ads everywhere for a month or so. Whenever I check out a news feed, it’s full of paid promotion ad-type “news” stories.
I shop on Amazon for a living. Here’s what I’m buying on Prime Day.
Customers over 50 love this moisturizer. You won’t believe the price this Prime Day.
Yeah, we get it. It’s Prime Day.
Amazon puts on this huge sale in July for a few reasons.
Get new Prime memberships
Test the waters for the upcoming holiday
Impress the Prime members it already has
The company is very good about keeping you in its ecosystem. Once you’re in, it’s easy to search for items; recommended items are pretty good, and shipping & returns are easy.
What’s not to love?
Well. Not so fast. I mean, it’s still Amazon.
“Amazon’s number one goal is customer service,” someone recently declared on LinkedIn.
Again… well… not so fast.
Amazon is excellent at getting people to buy. I don’t think they're obsessed with customer service.
The company engineers everything in a precise way to get you to spend more. From the colors of the BUY NOW buttons to the product placement. The company has spent A LOT of time testing and researching this stuff.
No shade. They did it well. It works.
What I do take issue with is price-hiking algorithms like Nessie.
Nessie
In the fall of 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 19 states sued Amazon for violating federal and state antitrust laws.
This complaint alleges that Amazon excluded competitors and harmed consumers. Amazon designed Project Nessie to predict what companies would match Amazon’s price hikes. So, Amazon raises the price for fun, the other company does too, and now consumers are paying more for no reason.
“The district court ruled that the enforcers plausibly alleged that Amazon’s use of Project Nessie violated Section 5 of the FTC and parallel state laws,” BCLP Law
If you want to go down the rabbit hole on this one, there is a lot more here.
The use of Nessie generated more than $1 billion in excess profits.
Mind games
Still think Amazon is obsessed with customer service?
They’re not. They don’t care. They want to get you to buy at the highest price they can charge you. Tomorrow they’ll be back to sell you more.
They’ve made returns easy because this gets you to buy more. It gets you to come back. It keeps you in their Amazon bubble.
They ship for “free” because you will go to them to buy more. (If you’re not a Prime member, items are often cheaper on the site. They cost a bit more for Prime members because of “free” shipping.)
Is it a mind game?
Yes. Yes it is.
The customer service is an illusion. Everything they do is to get you hooked on their site to consume more. It goes beyond making you loyal because you feel taken care of. Amazon encourages you to keep consuming like a garbage disposal.
It feels like an addiction.
Well, it is.
The whole thing is a masterclass in psychology.
It’s consumerism on steroids.
So, yeah, it’s Prime Day. You see it everywhere. You see it in every corner of the internet. It is inescapable. Price things out, shop around, and proceed with caution.
Convenience is great, but shopping small always feels better.
Kit Campoy is an accomplished retail expert and author. She leverages her two decades of leadership experience to inform and inspire.
It’s prime weeks for employees.60 hour weeks of grueling labor to get customers their junk. “Extreme Customer Service” is the high fructose corn syrup used by Amazon to keep customers clicking.
I was an Amazon Prime member for so many years that I can't remember how long it was. I shopped there for most everything except groceries. This past November I deleted my account and honestly, I dont miss it. If I can't find something that I could only find on Amazon, I look for a similar product to swap. Enjoyed your article. ~*~