Computer glitch affected Amazon shopping event: What’s really going on

Amazon’s Prime Day, while the biggest sales event in Amazon’s history, could have been bigger.

Amazon’s Prime Day, while the biggest sales event in Amazon’s history, could have been bigger.

While Amazon’s fourth annual Prime Day was the online giant’s biggest shopping event yet, the holiday could have been even bigger.

About 52 percent of consumers who tried to shop on the site during the 36-hour Prime Day event experienced technical difficulties, according to a recent study from JDA Software.

About 27 percent who experienced technical difficulties decided not to make any purchases, or purchased less than they anticipated.

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The bulk of the problem occurred in the first hour of the sale, when most customers weren’t able to make purchases.

The issues appear to stem from too few servers to handle the event’s high traffic, according to media reports. Amazon launched a scaled-down front page and cut off international traffic until the site was working properly.

Amazon also moved to bring Prime Day to brick-and-mortar stores this year. About nine percent of the customers surveyed by JDA said they shopped deals at Whole Foods Market stores, but 75 percent of those customers already shop at the store regularly.

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“Prime Day is clearly still an online event, despite Amazon’s attempt to integrate Whole Foods into this year’s promotions,” said JoAnn Martin, vice president of retail industry strategy for JDA North America. “Since those who already are regular Whole Food shoppers were the ones who benefited from the discounts, it wasn’t driving additional footfall to brick-and-mortar locations.”

Other notable numbers from the study:

74: percent of Prime Day shoppers who shopped for themselves

62: percent of people motivated to shop on Prime Day for discounts

40: percent who made unplanned purchases during the sales holiday.

19: percent of respondents who said all items purchased were on sale

52: percent who said Prime Day spending wouldn’t impact holiday spending

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