Amazon Webstores Launched

[bargainbloodhound]

I just noticed this:

Amazon Instant Website Program (Beta)
The Amazon Instant Website Program allows merchants selling on Amazon to quickly create their own Web sites. By leveraging Amazon's eCommerce technology, all the product descriptions and images you already uploaded to Amazon automatically appear on your own Web site, branded with your logo, design and layout. Customers shopping your Web site see only your products, displayed just the way you want them, with the convenience and security of the Amazon Shopping Cart.

Here are just a few examples of Websites built using Amazon technology:

ehobbies.com  sife-athletics.com mrwatchonline.com

[iron_chick]

I could only get the first store listed to work.  (The second, I couldn't find a link to work and the third, I got redirected to the admin log on.)  But it looks pretty cool.    I saw no sign of AZ until I got to the cart.  (Sorry ehobbies about the dropped cart.  I really don't need a $600 whateveritwas. )

[bargainbloodhound]

There's a whole page of the websites here .  Most of the stores are using the stock template Amazon provides without any modifications...rather plain looking.

[mandy]

Program officially launched.  Auctionbytes article and announcement:

WebStore by Amazon allows businesses to create their own ecommerce websites using Amazon technology. Merchants can customize their sites using their own photos and branding. WebStore by Amazon sellers pay a commission of 7 percent, which includes credit-card processing fees and fraud protection, and a subscription fee of $59.95/month, no matter how many WebStores they set up, and with no limits on the number of listings a merchant can create.

In order to qualify for a WebStore, merchants must already be selling on Amazon Marketplace...WebStore by Amazon fees are independent of the Pro Merchant subscription fees - therefore, a WebStore merchant is likely to pay $39.99/month in addition to the $59.95/month subscription fee...

full article: http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y06/m09/i20/s02

Amazon Business Solutions today launched "Fulfillment by Amazon" and "WebStore by Amazon," giving small and medium-sized businesses access to Amazon's order fulfillment, customer service, customer shipping offers, and underlying website technology to improve the experience they offer their customers...

WebStore by Amazon

WebStore by Amazon allows businesses to create their own privately branded e-commerce websites using Amazon technology. Businesses can choose from a variety of website layout options and can customize their sites using their own photos and branding. For example, Seattle Gift Shop now has its own WebStore at www.seattlesgifts.com. WebStore by Amazon users pay a commission of 7 percent (price includes credit card processing fees and fraud protection) for each product purchased through their site and a monthly fee of $59.95.

"Not only has using WebStore by Amazon increased my sales dramatically, but its easy-to-use tools give me complete control of the look and feel of my site," said Kathy Wojtczak, who manages www.elementjewelry.com using WebStore by Amazon. "Plus, I can use WebStore by Amazon to track and manage all of my online inventory and sales in one place."

WebStore by Amazon allows businesses to:

    * Maintain their brand while leveraging Amazon's own scalable, reliable, and secure back-end technology.
    * Make it secure, simple, and easy for visitors to buy using their existing Amazon.com accounts.
    * Earn additional revenue by including other products from Amazon.com in their WebStore and referring customers through the Amazon Associates program.

"Day-to-day mission-critical functions such as handling sensitive payment information and making sure our websites can handle big spikes in traffic are fundamental pieces of Amazon's business. We've made significant investments over the past decade and employ world-class software engineers to make sure these things are done right," said Tim Mirick, Director, Amazon Business Solutions. "WebStore by Amazon now puts these people and this investment to work for sellers, so they can focus on what they do best-building their brands and managing their merchandise."

Both Fulfillment by Amazon and WebStore by Amazon are available today in beta. They can be used separately or together. Go to http://www.amazonservices.com/businesssolutions for more information, including information on how businesses can sign-up for these new services...

full press release: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=906817&highlight=

[mandy]

Press coverage:

Sellers can now build their own e-commerce storefronts using Amazon's technology, which is world-class and should fare exceedingly well for most smaller businesses who want to sell on the web, but can't or don't choose to run a complete in-house operation.

What strikes me as odd here is the timing, which may be purely coincidental. These new services by Amazon.com appear aimed squarely at high-volume eBay sellers, known as Power Sellers. Many eBay Power Sellers, if recent eBay-post comments are any indication, have abandoned their eBay storefronts in complete frustration over the flooding of eBay with cheap Chinese-made goods, and huge discounts), in addition to fee structure changes made at eBay that makes running an eBay store unprofitable for many.

Will this group, which is not small at all, move over to Amazon's website and take advantage of the new "WebStores" offering? Probably so -- it never hurts, right? Amazon.com gets its fair share of website traffic, that is for sure. This feature alone will probably mean plenty of visibility for Amazon WebStores customers...

full article: http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2006/09/21...k-on-ebay/

[Anita]

Marketplace...WebStore by Amazon fees are independent of the Pro Merchant subscription fees - therefore, a WebStore merchant is likely to pay $39.99/month in addition to the $59.95/month subscription fee...

Ouch... kind of cuts out the hobby seller. 

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I WAS a hobby seller (they are often shunned)... BUT I took it all verrrrry seriously.  I was very professional and efficient.

[mandy]

While Amazon has never really mastered the online auction market as eBay has, they have mastered the fixed price market in a way that eBay obviously has not. eBay still does not appear to know exactly what they want to do with their stores even though they have been online since around 2001. Remember the ‘reset the marketplace’ debacle last year? And there is buzz that eBay is getting to ‘reset the marketplace’ yet again.

If you’re looking for an alternative to eBay stores, consider an Amazon Webstore...

full article: http://commonsenseecommerce.com/blog/200...bay-store/