Amazon’s ‘Bend the Curve’ Project Aims to Reduce ‘Unproductive’ Product Listings

Last updated May 30, 2025

Amazon’s ‘Bend the Curve’ and the Retail Space Evolution

Once known as the “Everything Store“, Amazon’s retail landscape is undergoing a significant shift. The e-commerce giant has been eliminating billions of non-performing product listings via a confidential project dubbed “Bend the Curve”.

The Decluttering of Amazon’s Retail Catalog

According to exclusive details obtained by Business Insider, Amazon has planned to delete at least 24 billion unique product listings, known as ASINs, from its marketplace. This cleanup targets underperforming products that have poor sales or no actual inventory availability.

Amazon’s Cost-Cutting Strategy and the Impact on Cloud Costs

The Bend the Curve project is part of a broader cost-cutting agenda led by Amazon’s CEO, Andy Jassy. Trimming underperforming product listings not only streamlines the retail business but also helps control Amazon’s cloud costs by reducing the number of hosted product pages.

The Balance between Extensive Catalog and Clutter-Free Shopping Experience

Having an extensive product selection has been a key advantage of Amazon over physical retail stores. However, the massive product array has also led to cluttered and outdated digital aisles, causing confusion and frustration among shoppers. The task of achieving balance between extensive catalog and clutter-free user experience is what the Bend the Curve project seeks to address.

Amazon’s Marketplace Cleanup and Customer Satisfaction

The Bend the Curve project signifies a shift in Amazon’s strategy towards a more streamlined and effective catalog. While the company continues to expand its product selection, it is putting a greater emphasis on removing inaccurate or low-performing listings. However, this effort has been met with a drop in customers’ perception of Amazon’s product selection according to Evercore ISI’s annual online retail survey.

Amazon’s Assurance on Product Selection Expansion

Amazon’s spokesperson assured that the aim of the Bend the Curve project is not to reduce active product listings but to cleanse data. The initiative focuses on eliminating unproductive listings that are inaccurate, incomplete, or do not meet Amazon’s listing standards. The ultimate goal is to refine, not restrict, product selection, ensuring a high-quality shopping experience for customers.

‘Throttling’ Listings and Addressing Counterfeit Goods Challenges

Amazon’s initiative to expand third-party sellers and product selection has also led to challenges, such as counterfeit goods and non-compliant products. With Bend the Curve, Amazon has also launched a ‘creation throttling’ feature that blocks new product listings from certain underperforming seller accounts.

‘Bend the Curve’ Project and Cloud Cost Reduction

The Bend the Curve project saved Amazon more than $22 million in AWS server costs in 2024. The company further projects an additional $36 million in AWS server “cost avoidance” in 2025 as the initiative continues. This approach to cost reduction aligns with Amazon’s broad cost-cutting strategy.