By Keith Regan E-Commerce Times
09/12/01 9:26 AM PT
Brick-and-mortar merchant Target is taking its place alongside the other
real-world merchants that have already partnered with Web giant Amazon.
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E-tail giant Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) has added
retailer Target (NYSE: TGT) to its growing list of brick-and-mortar partners.
Under the five-year deal, Target will sell clothing, home products, electronics and
jewelry through Amazon, starting this fall.
Amazon will be responsible for customer care
and order fulfillment and will receive a fee for
each unit sold, as well as annual payments from
Target. Specific financial terms were not disclosed.
"We're always looking to expand selection for our customers," Amazon chief executive
officer Jeff Bezos said. "In time for the holiday shopping season, and then continuing in
2002, Amazon.com will have jewelry, apparel, and more home living and electronics
products available for our customers."
More Support
In addition, starting next summer, Amazon will also provide the e-commerce platform and
customer support for all of Target's online properties, including Target.com,
MarshallFields.com, Mervyns.com and GiftCatalog.com.
"Target.com has experienced tremendous growth in the past 12 months and we believe this
new Target store at Amazon.com provides another opportunity to expand our business,"
Target vice chairman Jerry Storch said. "We believe this alliance will further strengthen
our brand."
Latest in a Line
Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Target, which was founded in 1962, takes it place alongside
several other brick-and-mortar retailers as Amazon partners.
In August, Amazon said it would work with Circuit City (NYSE: CC) in a deal that will
allow customers to order online and pick up
their purchases at Circuit City stores across the U.S.
Amazon has also taken over most of the heavy
e-commerce lifting for bookstore chain Borders (NYSE: BGP).
Additionally, Amazon's partnership with Toysrus.com
is often cited as one of the most successful examples of cooperation between bricks and
clicks to date. That alliance was expanded
this summer to include children's learning store Imaginarium.
Mixed Reaction
Amazon has not confined its partnering to the real world. In July, Amazon announced that
AOL Time Warner (NYSE: AOL) would invest US$100 million in the e-tailer
as part of an expanded partnership agreement.
Not everyone is enamored of partnering with the biggest e-tailer, however. According to
several published reports, e-tailer Overstock.com has pulled out of an agreement with
Amazon, about three months after the deal was announced.
Overstock reportedly said it sold only one computer in the
two weeks since Amazon launched its PC store.
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