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Amazon to store, ship goods for other merchants
E-tailer is enabling fellow merchants to store goods at its warehouses and Amazon will handle the storing, packing, and shipping.
Any mom-and-pop retail operation can now tap into Amazon's logistics and fulfillment expertise.
The Web's largest retailer has launched a fulfillment Web service. Fellow merchants can hire Amazon to store, pick and pack, and then ship products for fellow merchants, according to an announcement on Amazon's Web site. The service is free once a merchant signs up with Fulfillment By Amazon and pays the FBA fees.
Participating retailers use a Web interface to send inbound shipments to Amazon, post and track orders, and attach branding information. The service enables merchants to sell goods on Amazon or their own sites.
The real draw is that Amazon promises to handle the shipments of outside retailers the same way it handles its own.
"Amazon's technology results in your customers getting what they ordered, when they ordered it," Amazon said on its site.
