Amazon is killing off yet another batch of failed products

Amazon is kind of like Google in that it likes to release tons of products all the time in order to see which ones work, and isn’t afraid to kill off the ones that don’t meet its expectations. There are far more failed Amazon products than successful ones, which isn’t a bad thing, because it means the company likes to experiment. The latest failed products are Amazon Local and Amazon Register, which are the company’s attempt at taking on Craigslist and Square, respectively. 

There are so many of those “local daily deals” websites on the Internet, that it’s almost impossible to keep track of them all. And we’d hate to think how some poor mom-and-pop business—say, a local restaurant—decides which to use to bring in some new business. Where to begin? Well, Amazon is going to help simplify that decision by pulling out of the local deals game altogether. According to numerous reports—and a big announcement from Amazon itself—the company will stop offering any deals whatsoever on its local.amazon.com website and Amazon Local app starting December 18. “Merchants will no longer be able to sell deals and customers will no longer be able to buy deals at www.local.amazon.com and on the Amazon Local app. We are only going to stop selling daily deals for local merchants atlocal.amazon.com and on the Amazon Local app. Amazon’s Deal of the Day, Gold Box Deals, and Kindle Daily Deals are not affected by this announcement,” reads Amazon’s FAQ. Any vouchers you’ve previously purchased will remain valid per whatever dates might be applicable on the voucher itself. In other words, if the voucher says it expires on a certain date, that’s when it expires—not December 18. If some merchant is refusing to honor the voucher for some reason, you’ll have to contact Amazon to get it all worked out.