Amazon Throws It Back Like It’s 1999

Who doesn’t love a good April Fools’ story? Especially in the payments and commerce space.

Perhaps you caught PYMNTS’ exclusive stories yesterday (April 1), on how Google forgot why it bought Softcard, or a review of the Apple Car. For those mobile payments fanatics, rumors circulated that Tappy got called upon by Apple to join its board, MasterCard added MasterPhone, and Kayne West launched MCX/XL. PYMNTS also indicated that eBay rolled out PayPayPay and that Jack Ma decided to run across China.

Even the payments industry can have a little fun.

Amazon’s April Fools’ “prank” wasn’t that quite outlandish, but it did allow to company to go retro by giving viewers a step back in time. And that time was 1999, when books were actually still made of paper, instead of on tablets, and Amazon only has about a dozen, or so, categories — leading with books and music. Oh, how the times have changed for Amazon.

Just so it didn’t throw off new customers, Amazon had a few labels indicating the throwback design was all part of its April 1 scheme. But it did have some fun with the concept by offering products like the rare coinage from the mythical island of San Serriffe, or a book to provide how to grow a spaghetti tree. These were all featured in Amazon’s “new” zShops marketplace.

While Amazon decided to dedicate its April Fools’ Day to its 1999 version of the site — giving a glimpse of how far the eCommerce company has come since the end of last century — it also launched an actual real new product the day before April Fools’ Day. In fact, some thought the Dash Button — which allows customers to buy products instantly by literarily pushing a product geared for a specific product — was actually an April Fools’ prank. Odd timing, perhaps, but Amazon’s new button certainly got some attention in the press.

“Despite this [confusion], it is a stroke of genius the way it was introduced,” David Johnson, CEO of Strategic Vision LLC, a public relations and branding agency, said about Amazon’s launch strategy in an interview in Ad Week.

The Dash Button, or buttons, depending on how many products the customer is looking to order, is an actual device with a specific product attached to each one. They come with adhesive to stick on, or near the product, to remind customers to reorder when they get low. And no, it’s not a prank. Many media outlets had to confirm.

And for those customers who got confused, or were duped by Amazon’s “re-design,” it just took a click and the consumer was directed to its actual site.