The InPhonic agreement, signed between InPhonic and Amazon subsidiary Amazon Services, will see the wireless devices and services provider’s products made available in Amazon’s wireless store from Q3 2006. The deal means InPhonic will become Amazon’s first third-party merchant to offer activated mobile phones with service plans.
Prepaid mobile phones and phone accessories will also be on offer, and the available service plans will be from leading US wireless carriers.
Amazon’s services subsidiary is also behind the Benefit Cosmetics deal, which will see Amazon provide phone order processing and technology, order fulfillment, and customer service for Benefit Cosmetics’ US and UK websites. Both websites and phone order services are scheduled to launch later this year.
Amazon Services and Amazon Services Europe will provide Benefit Cosmetics with an end-to-end e-commerce solution that includes Amazon technology and e-commerce know-how. Amazon shopping technology such as one-step checkout, wish lists, and recommendations will be available to Benefit Cosmetics’ online customers, and order fulfillment and customer service will be operated by Amazon’s global network of fulfillment and customer service centers.
Finally, Amazon’s expansion into grocery retail means the company’s US customers now have access to around 2,000 grocery items online. The products on offer range from gourmet food items such as caviar and gourmet cheeses and coffees to chocolate, soup and Kellogg’s Corn Flakes.
As well as an attempt to boost the company’s efforts to become a one-stop shop for a wide variety of items, the new food and drinks offerings will also see Amazon compete with a variety of established online grocery retailers. It will, therefore, be interesting to see how this new venture fairs over the coming months.
