"What really matters is, companies that don't continue to experiment, companies that don't embrace failure, they eventually get in a desperate position where the only thing they can do is a Hail Mary bet at the very end of their corporate existence," Bezos told Business Insider's Henry Blodget in a 2014 interview .
Amazon's most successful initiatives would never have happened without some element of risk.
"I've made billions of dollars of failures at Amazon.com. Literally billions of dollars of failures," Bezos told Blodget. "None of those things are fun. But they also don't matter."
We've catalogued some of Amazons' more high-profile failures through the years. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it offers a taste of Amazon's culture of failure.
Remember an Amazon failure that's not listed here? Email the author at dgreen@businessinsider.com.
Pop-up stores
"After much review, we came to the decision to discontinue our pop-up kiosk program, and are instead expanding Amazon Books and Amazon 4-star, where we provide a more comprehensive customer experience and broader selection," a spokesperson for Amazon said.
The stores were a place where customers interested in smart gadgets like Amazon's Echo or Fire TV could see how they worked in the real world before purchasing.
Dash Buttons
Amazon; Samantha Lee/Business Insider
Dash buttons offered a way to reorder a consumable item on Amazon without having to think about it. Customers could link an item and preferred quantity to the button and press it whenever they needed more. The buttons could be mounted in cupboards or on top of washing machines.
Amazon stopped offering them for sale this year, but a spokesperson told CNET they were a rousing success in that they got customers used to not shopping with a screen.
"Dash button was an awesome stepping stone into the world of connected home," Amazon vice president Daniel Rausch said, later adding, "We never imagined a future where customers had 500 buttons in their home. We imagined a future where the home was taking care of itself, including replenishing everyday items that customers would rather not worry about."
Now that the AmazonBasics microwave can automatically reorder popcorn, there's simply no need for a separate $5 button.
Amazon Tap
The first Amazon Echo device to be discontinued by Amazon without a replacement, the Amazon Tap was a mobile version of its ultra-popular Alexa-enabled smart speakers. Amazon stopped selling the device near the end of 2018, and its product page on Amazon.com tells customers: "This device is no longer available, however Certified Refurbished Amazon Tap is refurbished, tested, and certified to look and work like new."
But as Amazon puts Alexa functionality in nearly everything, a portable device probably isn't as useful.
Instant pickup
Customers could order items like snacks, drinks, and basic essentials from the Amazon app and use a barcode to access their purchase at designated Pickup locations. An Amazon employee would fill an Instant Pickup locker within minutes of the order being placed.
However, Amazon pulled the plug on the service, a company spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider in 2018. The company did not specify when the service ended.
Whole Foods 365
Business Insider/Dennis Green
Whole Foods, a wholly owned subsidiary of Amazon, announced earlier this year that it would not be moving forward with its Whole Foods 365-branded stores.
These stores were designed to cater to younger shoppers with aisles full of budget-friendly private-label goods.
Business Insider's Hayley Peterson reported in January that the brand would sunset , and that no new stores would carry the 365 name. The company cited a diminishing price difference between 365 and regular Whole Foods stores as a reason for the change.
Amazon Restaurants UK
Amazon Restaurants is a service that uses the same delivery workers as Amazon Prime Now, but to deliver fresh prepared food from restaurants.
Amazon Freshs Local Market Seller
Amazon Fresh is Amazon's fresh grocery delivery service its answer to home-and-business grocery-delivery services like FreshDirect and Peapod.
Quidsi
Amazon acquired Quidsi for $545 million in 2010. Quidsi, founded by Marc Lore and Vinit Bharara, was the parent company of early 2000s e-commerce darling Diapers.com, which expanded into Soap.com, Wag.com, BeautyBar.com, Casa.com, and YoYo.com.
Amazon ran the business like its shoe and apparel seller Zappos.
Lore went on to found Jet.com, which was later acquired by Walmart for more than $3 billion.
Endless.com
Amazon started fashion e-tailer Endless.com in 2007 as its first standalone online shopping brand outside of Amazon.com. It focused on shoes and accessories.
Myhabit.com
Unlike Endless.com, however, Myhabit.com does not forward visitors to Amazon.com/Fashion.
Amazon Webstore
Amazon later partnered with Shopify to move those customers to that company's services.
Amazon Destinations
David Slotnick/Business Insider
Amazon also had a hotel-booking website called Amazon Destinations. It was intended to be used to plan quick getaways to cities like New York or Seattle.
Amazon Local
Amazon Local was also shut down in 2015 . A "daily deals" site similar to Groupon and LivingSocial, Local's end was not too surprising, as the two other sites saw spectacular rises and subsequently drastic falls.
Amazon Wallet
Amazon Wallet died before it ever got off the ground. Launched in 2014, it was a standalone Android app that stored gift cards and loyalty cards for different stores.
Amazon Local Register
Amazon Local Register enabled small brick-and-mortar businesses to accept credit-card payments through Amazon's payment processing with a card reader that attached to a smartphone, similar to a Square card reader.
Fire Phone
It was discontinued about a year after that.
Critics consider the Fire Phone Amazon's first and largest failure. In October of the same year, Amazon announced a $170 million write down "primarily related to Fire phone inventory valuation and supplier commitment costs" in its quarterly earnings report.
Amazon WebPay
WebPay was Amazon's version of PayPal in that it facilitated payments between people. It shut down in 2014 , eliminated the person-to-person payments, and became Amazon Pay: a service that facilitates payments between shoppers and merchants.
Amazon Askville
Askville was like Amazon's version of Yahoo or Google Answers, but users were encouraged to answer questions through a gamified process.
Amazon PayPhrase
With PayPhrase, Amazon customers could create a unique string of words that they would enter every time they wanted to check out quickly. It would be tied to a pre-selected payment option and address, so customers could just enter the phrase and PIN and they were done, similar to Amazon one-click.
Amazon Auction
Amazon once ran an auction site similar to Ebay, appropriately called Amazon Auction. It began in 1999 and ended a few years later.
It effectively functioned as the precursor to Amazon's Marketplace, where third-party sellers list their products for sale on Amazon.com
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