Entrepreneur team says, “Amazon.com Inc quietly shuttered a pay-per-click advertising program that allowed businesses to divert traffic from the retailer’s platform to their own websites on Tuesday, saying it would permanently discontinue the program in October. The program allowed many businesses that are not necessarily sellers on Amazon’s online marketplace to buy ad space on its website. Targeted ads for specific items would pop up on Amazon’s website and drive shoppers to the retailer or manufacturer’s own site. “Our customers performed really well with... [...]

Ken Bowen says, “For those of us interested in marketing, Amazon’s first ever “Prime Day” celebration could not have been more fun to experience. Intended as a special shopping day for members of Amazon’s $99/year Prime service, Amazon had practically promised ecommerce Armageddon leading up to the 24-hour event, with “More deals than Black Friday!” As the morning unraveled, however, Prime Day quickly devolved into spectacle as the buying public hammered Amazon for what they perceived as lackluster deals. Despite customer complaints, Prime Day was by most metrics a staggering... [...]

Ken Bowen says, “For those of us interested in marketing, Amazon’s first ever “Prime Day” celebration could not have been more fun to experience. Intended as a special shopping day for members of Amazon’s $99/year Prime service, Amazon had practically promised ecommerce Armageddon leading up to the 24-hour event, with “More deals than Black Friday!” As the morning unraveled, however, Prime Day quickly devolved into spectacle as the buying public hammered Amazon for what they perceived as lackluster deals. Despite customer complaints, Prime Day was by most metrics a staggering... [...]

Arie Shpanya says, “The Amazon marketplace has become necessary for ecommerce success. Fishing in open water can yield positive results, but they can often be few and far between. Ample swimming space and other fishermen can make it hard to attract fish to your line, leaving you with little success. Ecommerce can feel like this for many retailers. The vast landscape makes it hard to hook shoppers, and if a retailer wants to succeed they have to invest resources into flashy bait. However, it does not have to be this way. Imagine narrowing the open waters down to the size of a barrel full of... [...]

Patricio Robles says, “The next hit product is always right around the corner, and if the world’s largest online retailer has its way, you might just be introduced to it through Amazon.com. With support from Silicon Valley powerhouses like venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and accelerator Y Combinator, Amazon this week unveiled Amazon Launchpad, “a new program that makes it easy for startups to launch, market, and distribute their products to hundreds of millions of Amazon customers across the globe.” Through the Amazon Launchpad store consumers can discover more... [...]

David Nield says, “Amazon has opened up a new streamlined sales channel for startups called LaunchPad. If you’ve got something to sell—a recently Kickstarted invention, say—then LaunchPad lets you put it in front of millions of Amazon customers and distribute it through the e-commerce giant’s massive pipeline. Your new product can even get Amazon Prime eligibility too. Sounds like a win-win situation. Amazon gets intriguing new products to sell that aren’t widely available elsewhere, while inventors and startups benefit from retail expertise and access to infrastructure... [...]

Drew Olanoff says, “Amazon Prime has become Amazon’s way of getting cool stuff into people’s hands quicker, to the tune of an annual $99 subscription. You can get packages faster, access video content and more. It’s definitely worth it. The latest Prime promotion allows members to get their hands on the Amazon Dash dongles, which let you order more of whatever item you want. For yet another extra fee. They were free for a bit with an invitation, but now they will run you $4.99. If you haven’t heard about Dash, here’s the quick skinny: Need more toilet paper? Put the Cottonelle Dash... [...]

John Fetto says, “It’s actually a bit ironic that Amazon promoted Prime Day as having more deals that Black Friday. That’s because visits to Amazon.com have actually been growing so steadily that last year’s Black Friday isn’t even among the site’s 10 biggest traffic days of the last 12 months. Nearly half of the days in July this year, in fact, have had visit counts that surpassed Black Friday. Compared to the previous Wednesday (July 8), the number of visits to Amazon.com on Prime Day rose 68 percent. But Amazon wasn’t the only retailer celebrating. Prime Day was definitely... [...]

Sarah Perez says, “Consumer demand was there for Amazon Prime Day, but the deals did not deliver. At least, that’s the sentiment being shared on social media about Amazon’s first-ever attempt at creating its own sales holiday – one which the company had promised would feature “more deals than Black Friday.” In celebration of Amazon’s 20th anniversary, Prime Day was meant to somewhat replicate the post-Thanksgiving sales rush in the U.S., or perhaps Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba’s “Singles Day” – but one that took place via Amazon’s own website and apps. Unfortunately... [...]

Sam Edwards says, “To celebrate its 20th birthday, Amazon has officially declared July 15 “Prime Day” an event that will offer more deals than the traditional Black Friday. And while Prime Day could offer customers some pretty generous deals, business experts and savvy entrepreneurs know Amazon’s goals run much deeper than rewarding shoppers with hefty discounts. Amazon wants you to meet Prime Day In a July 6 press release, Amazon officials made it very clear that their new Prime Day wouldn’t just rival Black Friday — it would surpass it. (The title of the release reads “Step... [...]