Do you shop on Amazon?
Well that is a silly question! We all use Amazon to rent at least one book this semester or use our parent's Prime subscription to get those packages to campus mail ASAP. While shopping, you have probably noticed the icon between the products title and description stating the product is "Amazon's Choice". Have you ever questioned its motives or noticed anything strange as you browse the item you are looking for? Well the icon has an unexpected background. It was created to service Amazon's Alexa enabled products. Amazon wanted shoppers to be able to buy products with their voice, but you cannot have the entire library up for grabs; the system needs to be able to select one product. So Amazon created a system to select one "highly rated, well-priced product available to ship immediately”. So does someone, a human, choose these products? Or does an algorithm? And can 3rd party companies pay to have their product listed as Amazon's Choice?
Amazon has yet to officially state how the product is chosen. However, if you have looked closely at the habits of where the icon gets placed: it is most likely some sort of algorithm. Typically, the item chosen is a product that is the cheapest by the most reliable seller. Most importantly, it only selects one product and it is
completely based on what you searched for. If you search for "towels" and then "paper towels" the Amazon's Choice selection is always different. However, the search is not unique for individual shoppers, even across countries. As far as companies paying for the attention, it has been officially stated that companies cannot pay Amazon for the privilege. If you look at Amazon's competitors such as Apple and Google, you will notice their products are rarely and mostly never given an Amazon's Choice icon. You would think a search for "iPad Pro" would render the iPadPro as the Amazon's Choice. Finally, many of the AmazonBasic products receive the icon because they are actually the cheapest and highly rated, such as the AmazonBasic's HDMI cable. Amazon's system is mysterious and the ambiguity exists mostly to protect the service through Alexa and not cause either shoppers or 3rd party sellers to be upset.
Does the "Amazon's Choice" icon influence your buying decision? Thanks for reading!
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