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Technology Stocks : Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Robert Rose who wrote (79149)	9/30/1999 12:39:00 PM
From: Eric Wells	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 164684

Robert - with all the positive press around the zShops announcement, I was expecting something more than a product category type listing on the site (again, the approach is very similar to the way items are listed on Amazon's and Ebay's auction sites). Such an approach does not give e-tailers that use zShops much of an opportunity to establish and build their own brands - and it introduces a lot of price competition. And you could even go so far as to say that Amazon, through this approach, is attempting to use other e-tailers as virtual suppliers and distributors for products sold on Amazon's site - with Amazon taking a cut of what is likely to be a razor thin margin. This may be good for Amazon - but it's not so good for e-tailers - e-tailers will essentially be throwing their products into the mix and hope for a buyer. When I first heard of the zShops announcement yesterday, I assumed Amazon was establishing a "mall on the web" where small e-tailers can build brands and sell items. Unless Amazon transforms zShops into a vehicle that does allow e-tailers to build a brand, I really don't see this as being any different than an expansion of their auction effort - except the products are new and the prices are fixed. Thanks, -Eric