Amazon Checkout Glitch Disrupts Labor Day Sale

Amazon’s checkout process faced a significant technical snag on Friday, leaving customers unable to complete their purchases during the highly anticipated Labor Day sale. The website displayed error messages featuring images of dogs, a familiar indicator of Amazon’s system issues, sparking frustration among shoppers and numerous posts on social media.

Despite the checkout problems, Amazon Web Services (AWS), which powers much of the e-commerce giant’s infrastructure, did not report any outages. Typically, AWS disruptions can cause widespread internet issues due to its vast number of clients, but in this case, the problem appeared to be isolated to Amazon’s checkout system.

An Amazon spokesperson has yet to provide an official statement regarding the outage.

The technical hiccup hit during a crucial time for Amazon, as it had begun promoting significant discounts ahead of the U.S. Labor Day weekend. However, customers looking to take advantage of these deals were left unable to finalize their purchases. Amazon’s Help account on the X platform recommended that users contact customer support for assistance.

Such incidents have the potential to negatively affect sales and customer perceptions of Amazon’s services, an issue the company has previously flagged to investors. Despite this, Amazon reported strong sales in the second quarter of 2024, totaling nearly $148 billion.