Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon

by Colin Bryar

There was no assembly line to halt, but the CS agent would be given the authority to click on what we called “the big red button” on their control screen. Once that button was clicked, two things happened: the “Add to Cart” and “1-Click” buttons would disappear from the product page so no customers could buy that product, and the category manager would immediately be notified that purchasing for one of their products had been disabled until they could investigate and fix the issue. It took some time to put Jeff’s idea into operation. We had to build the tools that would remove the Buy Now or Add to Cart button and alert the appropriate internal teams, put together the necessary reporting infrastructure, and train the CS team on how and when to press the big red button. There was some concern that the big red button would be pressed too often. Selling products on a regular basis, after all, was quite important for the health of the company.