

Was Amazon Prime Day intended as a performance test in production? - marceltheshell
http://techbeacon.com/was-amazon-prime-day-intended-performance-test-production

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cjhveal
While I'm sure they gathered interesting data during the traffic surge, I'm
not sure Amazon would want to damage their brand by risking failing so loudly
with so many eyes on them. I'd bet that Amazon already invests heavily into
load testing and ensuring the reliability of the AWS backbone their retail
site runs on.

I think the real driving motivation for Prime day was to drive Prime
memberships. I get the impression that Amazon is betting on the recurring
payments and increased volume of sales generated from Prime members to offset
the ongoing cost of free shipping/other services and user acquisition costs
like Prime day offerings.

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marceltheshell
Good point and agree but they certainly gather lot of data that will help them
be "even better" during Cyber Monday. I use their mobile app daily and have
used during spikes. Overall, much better shopping experience than other apps
so they're certainly doing something right.

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appperfeng
What a "Brilliant Marketing Stunt" and plan giving them the ability to do so
much, and gather the results, so they will be optimized for the upcoming Black
Friday / Cyber Monday / Holiday Shopping Season. Do you think performance
issues in production, or perfectly planned execution in production?

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kellyemo
actually I think it was a full business test of something big they have
planned for the holidays, and it involved performance and security testing as
well. I expect Amazon to both create and grow new way to reach every potential
shopper on the planet between Thanksgiving and New Years...

