Amazon Launches 'Buy With Prime' for Third-Party Online Stores

pcmag.com:

Amazon is going to allow third-party online stores to integrate the Prime shopping experience for their customers.

The new initiative is called "Buy with Prime," and it will allow online stores to take advantage of Amazon's checkout experience, free delivery, and returns systems rather than trying to do it themselves.

However, Amazon is only offering Buy with Prime on an invitation basis for merchants who already use Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). As they already have an established relationship with Amazon and their products are stored in Amazon's warehouses, it's possible to add Buy with Prime to their online stores "within minutes," according to Amazon.

For consumers, it means any website that uses Buy with Prime will allow them to complete purchases using their Amazon account details, so their email address, home/shipping addresses, and payment card details don't need to be entered again. They will know Buy with Prime is an option at a third-party store from the Prime logo displayed next to eligible items along with an expected delivery date.

For Amazon, this is a relatively simple expansion of the FBA service, while at the same time offering another way for the company to compete with other shipping services such as UPS and FedEx. For FBA merchants, it's a no-brainer unless they already have established shipping partnerships for their own store. In fact, Buy with Prime may encourage some merchants to create an online store if they didn't have one already.

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