Evan Schuman's StorefrontBacktalk

For years, Amazon has held the hard-earned title of most innovative E-tailer. It has tried far more experiments than any other E-Commerce player (not all succeeded, but that's the whole point. If you never fail at a new venture, you're playing it safe far too much for E-Commerce). It has also properly delivered the most sophisticated executions, including one-click, look inside and even the early efforts with Kindle.

This month, though, Amazon is learning through two unrelated initiatives that pushing the envelope can deliver one heck of a paper cut. The first is a feature designed to be very consumer-friendly, one that flags when a product is being sold for more than list price. The other is a global Internet effort tied into the non-U.S. rollout of Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader. Both initiatives seem to stem from a retail chain that intuitively understands technology and what can be done with it, without necessarily thinking through how the new elements will ultimately impact consumers and partners.

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