Amazon is expanding the benefits of a Prime subscription to online stores beyond its own site, a move aimed at increasing revenue from retail rates and expanding its logistics footprint.
The company said Thursday that the new service called “Buy with Prime” will initially be available by invitation for retailers to ship their products through Amazon’s warehouse and delivery services. It will then be launched for merchants who do not sell on Amazon or use their delivery services.
Amazon he also said the service will only be available to U.S. customers. Launched in 2005, Prime has more than 200 million members worldwide who pay $ 139 a year, or $ 14.99 a month, for faster shipping and other benefits, such as free shipping and returns.
The company said Prime members using “Buy with Prime” could see the Prime logo on eligible products on a merchant’s site and make purchases using payment and shipping information stored in their Amazon account.
Merchants who use the service will pay various fees, which according to the retailer are calculated based on the functions used by the vendors. “Without any fixed subscription fee or long-term contract required, traders can extend the selection or cancel at any time,” he said.
“Very attractive option” for companies
Bob O’Donnell, chief analyst at Technalysis Research, says the expansion will open more doors for companies to use Amazon’s services without selling goods to their third-party market, which has long faced accusations of undermining traders by making “implants”. , “or very similar products, and enhancing their visibility on the site.
“If I’m a retailer and I really don’t want to deal with the hassle of shipping, logistics and returns and all that kind of stuff, this becomes a very attractive option without having to really sell on Amazon,” O ’Va said Donnell.
Amazon’s growing logistics arm aims to compete even more with leading operators such as UPS, FedEx and the US Postal Servicealthough some speculate that Thursday’s announcement may also have been aimed at curbing the momentum of Canadian e-commerce company Shopify, which makes software that allows companies to run online stores.
Michael Pachter, a technology analyst at Wedbush Securities, believes the company is expanding Prime’s benefits to keep customers happy.
“They’re doing it to make it easier for the customer to find what they want, wherever they’re looking, complete the transaction, and stay an Amazon customer,” Pachter said.
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