Amazon will shut down the AmazonSmile charitable giving program next month as it looks for ways to cut costs, the company said Wednesday. Was released in 2013.
The program doled out a percentage of shoppers’ purchases to eligible charities, donating more than $377 million globally since its inception, the e-commerce giant noted.
The company intends to shut down AmazonSmile by February 20, it said in a company blog post.
“After nearly a decade, the program has not grown to create the impact we originally hoped for,” the company said. “With so many eligible organizations, more than 1 million around the world, our ability to make an impact has often become too diluted.”
Amazon went on to say that it will continue to invest in areas where it can “make meaningful change,” helping communities affected by natural disasters, building affordable housing, and providing access to computer education for students in underserved communities.
The announcement is the latest sign of distress for Amazon, which over the past three years has seen a huge growth spurt followed by a slowdown in revenue and a $1 trillion loss in market value. To stem the losses, Amazon announced a workforce reduction in November that cut more than 18,000 jobs.
In recent months, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy halted testing on Amazon Scout, the company’s robotic home delivery initiative. He also shut down the telehealth and nursing service Amazon Care, as well as Fabric.com, a longtime online fabric retailer.
