Amazon has been forced to stop selling its own-brand nappies, less than two months after it started the product line, citing the need for “design improvements”.
The nappies were the flagship component of the company’s new offering for parents, Amazon Elements, which offered baby and household goods in bulk for subscribers of the site’s $99 a year Amazon Prime service.
The company announced the withdrawal in an email to customers, saying that it was “making some design improvements to the diaper … based on early customer feedback.”
Customers can also opt to join the “Amazon Mom” programme instead, which is also $99 a year but offers 20% off the nappies. There is no Amazon Dad program, although Amazon Mom “is open to anyone, whether you’re a mom, dad, grandparent, or caretaker”.
In contrast with many own-brand labels, Amazon intended the line to focus on the premium end of the market, offering environmentally friendly goods. It launched with nappies and nappy wipes for sale.
But the nappies received mixed reviews from users. Geekwire’s Tricia Duryee said that they “were effective, well-designed and priced right,” but that “I will not likely order them again, and I have a hard time recommending them for other reasons”, chiefly the requirement to subscribe for the best prices.
On Amazon.com, the average review was just 3 stars, with some users swearing by them (“my search for a quality, non-leaking, non-rash causing, keep my baby and bank account happy diaper is over”) and others swearing at them (“I have had more leaks with these diapers than I had experienced with several different brands in the last 20 months”).
