April 15: Amazon: The Best Place in the World to Fail
Eight products and services that Amazon has launched and proceeded to shut down.
Source: Amazon Letter to Shareholders and Business Insider
Published: April 2016 and July 2019
Amazon: The Best Place in the World to Fail
“One area where I think [Amazon is] especially distinctive is failure. I believe we are the best place in the world to fail (we have plenty of practice!), and failure and invention are inseparable twins. To invent you have to experiment, and if you know in advance that it’s going to work, it’s not an experiment.” - Jeff Bezos
While there are many products and services that Amazon has launched and proceeded to shut down, here are some that may take you on a stroll down memory lane.
Amazon’s Product or Service & Description*
1. Endless.com. Fashion retail, mainly accessories and shoes.
Start: 2007
End: 2012
2. Amazon Spark. Instagram-like visual shopping platform.
Start: 2017
End: 2019
3. Amazon Restaurants. Freshly prepared food delivery from local restaurants.
Start: 2015
End: 2018
4. Amazon Webstore. Platform for small/medium retail sellers to create shops.
Start: 2010
End: 2016
5. Instant Pickup. Service that allowed customers to pick up orders locally and quickly.
Start: 2017
End: 2018
6. Fire phone. Fire tablet in phone form.
Start: 2014
End: 2015
7. Dash buttons. Wi-Fi enabled, plastic, branded buttons for reordering household goods.
Start: 2015
End: 2019
8. Amazon Askville. Q&A platform with rewards for best answers.
Start: 2006
End: 2013
*As described by Fact of the Day 1. It is naturally difficult to describe a product or service with just a few words!
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