Would it be fair to say that the biggest challenge with the buy button is the lack of last mile fulfillment (like shipping, returns etc) from Google/FB/Pinterest. Amazon on the other does a job at this
The last mile is still being handled by retailers.
The buy button primarily fixes the UX friction of having to leave the experience, go through a horrible mobile web checkout flow, enter your information again, etc...
Imagine those replaced with a streamlined flow (ala amazon single click buy buttons)
I agree completely. When I shop online, I like going with amazon since I know from experience their return process is so painless if something goes bad.
I can't imagine shopping for physical goods from Google. From what I hear, their customer service is pretty bad. I think overall that this is a risky proposition for these companies, in that if they mess something up they will have a lot of bad publicity.
In Google's defense their support for people who are paying money for a service tends to be better - both AdWords and Google Apps have had pretty solid support teams when I've needed them.
The buy button primarily fixes the UX friction of having to leave the experience, go through a horrible mobile web checkout flow, enter your information again, etc...
Imagine those replaced with a streamlined flow (ala amazon single click buy buttons)