Amazon is nudging customers to buy less

It’s not just Amazon. Other companies are easing up on that most fundamental form of online manipulation-targeted advertising-as they slash their marketing budgets

NEW YORK: The pandemic has many of us acting in unusual ways, and the world’s largest e-commerce company is no exception. In a stunning reprieve from the prerogatives of capitalism, Amazon.com Inc has begun discouraging users from buying things they don’t need.

Amazon is suppressing extraneous consumption in various ways, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

It isn’t planning its normal promotions. It’s not telling you what other customers bought. It has even delayed Prime Day indefinitely. The retail giant is overwhelmed with essential orders. It doesn’t need to convince you to upgrade your TV right now.