Amazon’s choice: Amazon’s choice?

Furthermore, the company labeled dozen of unsafe and banned products as ‘Amazon’s choice’.

Is Amazon’s choice really ‘Amazon’s choice’ or is it just a treacherous recommendation engine misleading people? In 2015, Amazon introduced the ‘Amazon’s choice’ feature saying the badge is to recommend ‘highly purchased’ and ‘well priced’ goods to its customers. Also, amazon states “It’s been a really popular feature both on Amazon and on Alexa because it allows customers to make fast and easy decisions on what to buy.”

The company has never been transparent neither shared sufficient details about what data they use to choose and label products as ‘Amazon’s Choice.

Amazon’s choice listings are flawed and many examples and reviews say so. Surely, the label can’t be trusted for authenticity.

With growing criticism over its badge, an Amazon spokesperson said in his statement: “When deciding to badge a product like Amazon’s Choice, we proactively incorporate several factors that are designed to protect customers from those policy violations. When we identify a product that may not meet our high bar for products we highlight for customers, we remove the badge.”

Amazon and its “Marketplace”

A report states, 55% of what’s sold on Amazon isn’t sold by Amazon. Who then?

Amazon runs a marketplace and allows millions of third-party sellers to sell their products on its website. And of course, anyone can sell just anything on its chaotic marketplace. More than 2 million sellers ship about 2 billion items each year, which is half of the products sold online all over the world.

Does that mean the majority of items listed on Amazon are sold by third-party sellers and not Amazon itself? Yes, of course. The worst-case scenario is that a lot of these reputable sellers are peddling fake products.

A Wall Street Journal report states that no fewer than 4,152 items sold on Amazon.com have been declared unsafe by federal agencies.The question that arises here is whether Amazon knows what it really sells.

In the last 25 years, Amazon’s modus operandi has totally changed. The company started from a garage has now become one of the go-to trusted websites for online shoppers. Most people still see amazon as an American one-stop retailer, selling labeled products, considered safe enough for the customers. The truth is, eCommerce websites are lodged with fake goods and it is hard to tell the difference between fake and authentic products.

Things were different back in brick-and-mortar days. Getting a fake product on the shelves was harder for a retailer but selling a counterfeit item online is way easier. All that a marketplace seller needs to sell fake items is positive reviews, high ratings, and lower prices compared to its competitors.

Amazon is facing challenges to keep a tab on its massive marketplace and lose its consumers' trust. Though the company is aware of the problem and taking measures to tackle the whole situation.

With the rise of Amazon Marketplace, the problem gets more extensive.