I find Amazon’s acceptance of CCC interesting.
If they see value in CCC, why not natively add the feature themselves? If price history is made transparent, consumers also don’t have trust issues.
If they see value in CCC, why not natively add the feature themselves? If price history is made transparent, consumers also don’t have trust issues.
The way it currently works represents a kind of price discrimination, just like providing coupons that people have to find and cut out. Price sensitive people make the effort to track down pricing information and may be prepared to wait for a better deal. Price insensitive ones don’t and aren’t.
They think that most people aren't seeking, or missing, such a feature. That suspicious/especially frugal people who want to see a price history would actively seek such service, and find it anyway.
Amazon benefits here by sanctioning a price history tool with restrictions when others could take its place and include its higher margin goods (if you look, there are CCC competitors that aren't sanctioned in this way, but you have to look). Less measurably, the price history tracker provides better consumer experience, in line with Amazon's customer obsession. And finally, Amazon's warehouse space isn't unlimited, so informed consumers who know a particular price is extraordinary may help it free up space more quickly.
They don't want people to stop shopping because it's not a "good deal"