Amazon.com's goal , as they say in the tagline of their correspondence, is to be "Earth's most customer-centric company." Don Peppers and I love hearing this, and hugely admire what Jeff Bezos and his colleagues have built in the relatively few years since amazon.com first appeared as an online source for books, CDs, and DVDs.
I've been a frequent user of amazon.com ever since, gradually expanding into more and more categories of merchandise. Of course, I depend on amazon.com to tell me which business books I need to read next; even if I don't hear about a particular one, I can count on amazon.com's community-search engine to find the next highly relevant recommendation for me. (Don and I are amused and not a little reassured by the fact that each time we publish a new book, that new book we write heads the list of books we'll want to read next! So we know the relevance is spot on.)
More than once, when we've gone to order a book, amazon.com has reminded us: You've already bought that book; are you sure you want to buy it again? (Haven't we all accidentally bought something we forgot we already have?) Risking the immediate lost sale to save a customer the hassle (and themselves the expense) of returning an unwanted book just makes sense. Couple all this 1to1 with amazon.com's free shipping, low prices, and huge selection and we can see why Jeff & Co. have done so well.
So what suggestion do I have?
Amazon.com, please imagine what it's like to be your customer. You want me to buy a lot of stuff from you, right? In many different categories, right? In fact, the goal is to be Earth's #1 retail destination, yes? I've been buying from you for over a decade, with very few hassles, returns, etc. So why is there a limit to how many items I can put in my cart?
Is amazon.com the only retailer on earth that wants to make sure a customer doesn't buy too much?
In the upper left of the shopping cart is a claim that "Ordering from amazon.com is fast and easy." Let's see. Imagine I am giving a party and expect a few dozen guests. Rather than go to the party store for invitations and decorations, and to the housewares department of a local discount house for napkins, napkin rings, and a few other tabletop items, and pick up the other things I need at drugstore.com, I figure I can get everything I need on amazon.com.
And I can.
But not all at once.
If I buy 4 packages of 10 invitations each, that's 4 items in my shopping cart. Three dozen napkin rings brings me to 40. Three dozen napkins takes the total to 76, and if I then need 36 of anything else, I will be over the limit of 99 items I can buy at a time.
I wrote amazon.com an email and asked if that really makes sense. Here's the reply (which came back only an hour after I sent the inquiry):
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Hello,
The shopping cart allows you to add a total quantity of 100 items for multiple item orders into the Shopping Cart Items--To Buy Now section. If you're buying several different items in a single order and need more than 100 total, you'll need to place more than one order. If you're only ordering a single item but need a large quantity, the shopping cart will allow you to add up to 999 of a single item.
If you simply wish to keep items in your cart, you can click the "save for later" button to move them from the To Buy Now section into the To Buy Later section. You'll be able to save a total of 600 items for purchase later.
Anytime you reach the quantity limits, we'll display a message to let you know. Thanks for your comments about increasing the cart limits. We'll consider your feedback as we plan further improvements.
Customer feedback like yours really helps us continue to improve our store and provide better service to our customers. Thanks for taking time to offer us your thoughts.
I hope this information helps. We look forward to seeing you again soon.
Did I solve your problem?
If yes, please click here:
http://www.amazon.com/rsvp-y?c=arbqaqrx3277142951
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http://www.amazon.com/rsvp-n?c=arbqaqrx3277142951
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To contact us about an unrelated issue, please visit the Help section of our web site.
Best regards,
Ajeeth M.
Amazon.com
Your feedback is helping us build Earth's Most Customer-Centric Company.
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Well.
What this demonstrates is that even the most dedicated, customer-centric companies need...
- to keep listening to customers, and taking the advice of those who are loyal and valuable.
- to keep thinking about what it's really like to be their own customers.
- to figure out how to get the roadblocks out of the way of doing more business (I just went to two other websites and got what I needed in ONE order each -- they didn't limit what I could buy!).
- to take the customer's point of view to provide better experiences and look smarter.
And please, amazon.com, let me know when it's OK for me to buy as much as I want.