How Amazon fails customers with every product search

Key takeaways from this article

• How Amazon’s current search experience falls short of customer expectations
• Why ineffective search impacts confidence and conversions
• The value of guided, personalized product discovery experiences
• How brands can take control and build better online shopping journeys that emulate in-store support

Amazon is the undisputed leader in online retail, offering an immense variety of products to millions of customers worldwide. But despite its scale, many shoppers find themselves frustrated by the product search experience. With millions of choices and complex filtering options, it’s easy for customers to feel overwhelmed, unsure, and ultimately unsatisfied with their decisions.

Why keywords and filtered search fail Amazon's customers

Amazon’s massive product catalog is one of its greatest strengths, but it also presents a challenge for shoppers. With over 12 million products listed in some categories, customers can easily find themselves in a sea of choices that feel more like a burden than a benefit.

Too much choice

One of the most significant barriers Amazon shoppers face is simply the overwhelming volume of options. Imagine searching for something as simple as a "coffee maker." This seemingly straightforward search returns over 900 results on the first page. And since Amazon displays up to 68 products per page, customers are expected to sift through 10+ pages of results to find the right one.

This kind of overwhelming choice leads to decision fatigue and indecision. In fact, 65% of shoppers report feeling overwhelmed by the number of available choices on Amazon, which often leads to frustration and eventually abandoning the search altogether.

Lack of product expertise

Another reason why Amazon fails its customers is the lack of product education available to guide shoppers through the decision-making process. When customers search for items like a coffee maker or a washing machine, they often aren’t sure which product features are essential to their needs.

Words like “programmable,” “single-serve,” and “water capacity” are commonly listed in product descriptions, but how can a shopper know whether these features matter to them if they don’t fully understand their significance? Shoppers often lack the product expertise to match these specifications to their real needs. This creates confusion, leading to missed opportunities for brands to help educate their customers and provide value.

Fear of better options (FOMO)

The third major issue customers face on Amazon is the fear of missing out (FOMO). When confronted with thousands of similar products, customers often get trapped in an endless cycle of comparing features and searching for a "better" option. This sense of indecision leads many shoppers to abandon their carts, worried that they might find a better product elsewhere.

This issue of indecision, especially in a marketplace as vast as Amazon, is exhausting for consumers. They are bombarded with an overwhelming number of options, leading to a drop in consumer confidence. As a result, many customers never make a purchase, leaving Amazon with unfulfilled potential sales.

How Amazon educates customers today

While Amazon provides a plethora of options and technical details for each product, these features often fail to educate customers in a way that helps them make a purchase decision.

Site functionality and filters

Amazon’s search functionality heavily relies on filters based on price, brand, customer rating, and other broad product specifications. However, these filters don’t address the individual shopper’s unique needs. For instance, when a shopper is looking for a coffee maker, they might only know they want a "single-serve" machine, but that’s not enough to guide them toward the right product.

Additionally, Amazon’s filtering options assume that customers are experts who already know what to look for—an assumption that leaves many shoppers feeling lost.

Category programming and Amazon’s choice

Amazon's "Amazon’s Choice" label is intended to help shoppers quickly find popular products, but it often adds confusion. The selection process behind the “Choice” label is not transparent, and the products chosen may not align with what a shopper is looking for. A product labeled “Amazon’s Choice” may be the best-seller, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best fit for every customer.

User-generated content: Reviews and Q&A

Customer reviews are one of the most powerful tools Amazon provides to educate its customers. However, they often only help towards the end of the decision-making process. 43% of shoppers rely on reviews to help determine if the product will meet their needs. However, reviews are post-purchase reflections—they do not guide customers through their purchase journey.

Similarly, Amazon’s Questions & Answers section may contain valuable insights, but it often lacks the direct support needed to convert a hesitant customer into a buyer. Shoppers shouldn’t have to wait for responses from other users or sellers to make a decision; they should be guided through the shopping experience in real-time.

A better way: Asking questions to boost confidence and secure conversion

Imagine walking into a physical store like Home Depot or Media Markt with the intention of buying a new coffee maker. You’re greeted by a knowledgeable sales associate who immediately asks: "What type of coffee do you prefer drinking?"

This simple question creates a conversation that helps narrow down your options and guides you toward a purchase. Why doesn’t this happen in Amazon’s digital store?

The missing element: Personalized engagement

While Amazon offers numerous products, it fails to create the level of personalized engagement that can be found in brick-and-mortar stores. Retail associates are trained to ask the right questions, understand the customer's needs, and direct them to the right product. This human touch creates a frictionless experience that fosters trust and increases the likelihood of a sale.

In a digital world, asking the right questions can mirror this process. By offering a personalized, needs-based search process, Amazon could significantly improve its customer experience, helping customers feel more confident in their purchase decisions.

Increasing shopper confidence through needs-based questions

Recent research highlights that 65% of American consumers and 59% of European consumers ranked the ability to find products quickly and easily among their top three browsing priorities. With 84% of shoppers wishing their search results were narrowed down to just a handful of options based on their individual needs, the potential for improvement is clear.

The power of personalized recommendations

Asking targeted questions and offering personalized product recommendations based on individual preferences would enable Amazon to increase customer satisfaction. For example, if a shopper answers questions about their coffee-drinking habits, Amazon could present a tailored selection of coffee makers, eliminating the guesswork and fear of making the wrong choice.

Enter: Education through product discovery experiences

So, how can Amazon transform the current search experience to become more customer-centric? The solution lies in product discovery experiences. These interactive, education-based journeys that guide customers through their purchase process by asking questions and delivering personalized recommendations.

What are product discovery experiences?

Product discovery experiences are guided, interactive journeys that ask customers questions about their needs, preferences, and intentions. Instead of bombarding them with a massive selection of options, these experiences help customers narrow down choices and make decisions with confidence.

The original sin of B2B ecommerce and how companies can fix it by embracing true product discovery

Read more

By removing the noise of overwhelming product listings and focusing on the benefits of products (rather than just features), product discovery experiences create a more streamlined and personalized shopping journey.

Benefits of product discovery experiences

• Reducing choice: Product discovery experiences cut through the noise by narrowing down choices based on a shopper's specific needs, helping them find the right product faster.
• Product feature confusion: By focusing on the benefits of products (not just the technical features), shoppers can easily understand how the product will meet their needs, eliminating confusion.
• Fear of better options: Personalized product recommendations increase consumer confidence, reducing the fear of missing out on a better option.

Real-world examples of product discovery experiences

Let’s take a look at two examples of how Product discovery experiences can transform shopping on Amazon:

Example 1: Washing machines

A customer looking for a washing machine answers a few simple questions:

• What’s your primary need for a new machine? (e.g., washing and drying)
• How large is your household? (e.g., family of 8 vs. 2-person home)
• What’s your laundry routine like? (e.g., heavy loads vs. light, frequent vs. infrequent washing)
• What’s your budget?

By asking these questions, the system filters out irrelevant products and only shows options that meet the customer’s needs.

Example 2: Speakers

Similarly, for customers looking to buy speakers, the discovery experience can guide them through questions about sound preferences, room size, connectivity options, and more. The result is a short list of products that match their needs, reducing the overwhelming number of choices.

Results: Why it works

According to industry studies, Product discovery experiences can increase engagement by up to 94% and lead to 47% higher average order value (AOV). Brands that adopt these solutions see a direct impact on revenue, with $137,000 in incremental revenue per month for each retailer leveraging the experience.

Conclusion: Enhancing customer experience on Amazon

Amazon’s current product discovery process leaves much to be desired. While the platform offers a vast selection of products, the search functionality does not adequately address individual shoppers’ needs or guide them toward a confident decision. The lack of personalized education leaves many customers feeling overwhelmed, confused, and unsure.

Product discovery experiences offer a solution by allowing brands and retailers to create an intuitive, needs-based shopping journey. By asking the right questions and offering tailored product recommendations, brands can not only improve customer satisfaction but also boost conversions and sales.

By transforming the search experience, Amazon and other online retailers can give customers what they want: a seamless, personalized shopping experience that builds trust, reduces decision fatigue, and helps customers find the right products with confidence.

Zoovu, a leader in AI-driven product discovery experiences, has shown, retailers who invest in these solutions will stand out in a crowded marketplace and deliver results that benefit both the customer and the business.

For more information on how Zoovu can help enhance your customer experience, book a demo.