

Ask HN: Why can't Google operate an online store? - maayank

The full and proper question is how can a big corporation full of competent developers, having their own solutions for scalability, fail again and again at processing online orders at surges?<p>This is not meant as a jab at Google specifically and I'm sure I and many would have trouble architecting themselves a web store scalable on that scale, but surely Google has people competent at the issue on the scale of Apple, Amazon, etc., all regularly handling such surges (and if not, they have the money to hire). What in a company culture can cause it again and again?<p>edit: this of course comes after the (again) saturated Nexus 4 launch - http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4838416
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stephengillie
I thought this would be a rant about G+ integration with Play, why people
don't like it, and how "Google don't 'get' social".

Google haven't revealed if it's a supply issue or a distribution issue.

Which humans on the planet are making these phones?

Do the have sufficient resources to make them?

Are there problems transporting it from there into shipping channels? Is it an
inventory problem, where stock is on hand but databases don't know this,
possibly on the dock but not checked in?

Is there an issue coordinating database replication of the quantity of phones
in stock?

When we refresh and the button goes from "Add to Cart" to "Out of Stock", we
may be watching the inventory be checked into the warehouse and immediately
purchased.

~~~
maayank
While I had the "refresh to add" problem earlier in today's sale and the
previous sale, for some time now it consistently shows me the "add to cart"
button but fails when I click the process button (in the cart).

Then, sometimes, it works and leads me to the "buying" dialog with the address
and credit card selection - but invariably fails then. An experience not
unlike jumping thru burning hoops only to land on thorns.

What I mean to say, while there's maybe a supply issue, there's a UX issue as
well.

~~~
stephengillie
If they're updating in real time, maybe the UX solution is to update less
often?

This may be a situation where less is more -- constantly updating the quantity
in their database is less helpful than, say, hourly updates.

