Update: It appears that Amazon is coming back online.
Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, is grappling with a significant technical outage affecting customers across the United States and potentially beyond. Reports of disruptions began surging around 2:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, with thousands of users unable to access key features of the website and mobile app. The issues include difficulties logging into accounts, product pages failing to display prices directly—often requiring users to add items to their carts to reveal costs—and widespread problems completing checkouts.
Outage monitoring site Downdetector recorded a sharp spike in complaints, peaking at over 20,000 reports by mid-afternoon. Breakdowns showed checkout failures accounting for roughly 38-49% of issues, followed by mobile app glitches at around 18-21%, and general website errors, including pricing and page loading problems, making up a substantial portion. Many users described seeing error messages such as “Sorry, something went wrong on our end” when attempting to browse products, view reviews, or proceed to payment.
Social media platforms, especially X, quickly filled with frustrated shoppers sharing their experiences. Complaints ranged from login hurdles to bizarre workarounds for viewing prices. One user noted the inconvenience of recent account security changes compounding the outage frustrations, while others simply expressed shock at the scale of the disruption on such a dominant platform.
The company has not yet provided details on the root cause, and the outage’s origin remains unknown at this time. There is no indication of external factors like a security breach; instead, it appears to stem from internal technical difficulties impacting the retail platform directly.
This incident follows a pattern of intermittent service challenges for Amazon in recent months, though earlier disruptions were more closely tied to its Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud infrastructure. For instance, AWS experienced ongoing recovery efforts in its Middle East (UAE) region following power and connectivity issues earlier in the week, but AWS’s status dashboard reported no new widespread problems likely to affect North American retail operations today. Experts note that while AWS powers much of the internet, today’s issues seem isolated to Amazon’s e-commerce frontend rather than a broad cloud failure.
This outage underscores the fragility of even the most robust digital ecosystems, where a single point of failure can disrupt millions. Customers are advised to monitor Amazon’s official channels or Downdetector for updates.
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