AP – Amazon has launched a low-cost online storefront featuring electronics, apparel and other products priced at under USD20, an effort to compete with discount retailers that have increasingly encroached on the e-commerce giant’s turf.
In a blog post on Wednesday, the company said the new Amazon Haul storefront will mostly feature products that cost less than USD10 and offer free delivery on orders over USD25.
Amazon plans to ship the products to United States (US) customers from a warehouse it operates in China, according to documentation the company provided to sellers. Amazon said Haul orders could arrive within one to two weeks.
Many of the available products on the storefront on Wednesday resembled the types of items typically found on Shein and Temu, the China-founded e-commerce platforms that have grown in popularity in recent years.
Shein’s core customers are young women enticed by the low-cost apparel sold on the site. Temu offers clothing, accessories, kitchen gadgets and a broad array of other products for bargain-hungry shoppers.
Temu and Shein often get criticism over the environmental impact of the ultra-fast fashion business model the two companies follow.
They have also faced scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators in the US and abroad over other issues, including some of the products on their platforms.
Amazon’s new storefront, which is only available on its shopping app and mobile website, features unbranded products, such a phone case and a hairbrush that cost USD2.99, and a sleeveless dress that retails for USD14.99. The company is seeking to drive home its message on value, with banners on its page advertising “crazy low prices” and activewear “that won’t stretch your budget”.
“Finding great products at very low prices is important to customers, and we continue to explore ways that we can work with our selling partners so they can offer products at ultra-low prices,” Amazon’s Vice President Dharmesh Mehta of Worldwide Selling Partner Services said in a statement.
“It’s early days for this experience, and we’ll continue to listen to customers as we refine and expand it in the weeks and months to come.”
To be sure, importing goods out of China could soon become more expensive for Amazon.
The company said it was shutting down its free, ad-supported streaming service Freevee and consolidating the content under Prime Video, which now also features ads for Prime members who refuse to pay extra to avoid them.
The Seattle-based tech company confirmed on Wednesday that it will phase out Freevee in the coming weeks, a move that it said is intended to “deliver a simpler viewing experience for customers”.
All Freevee content that’s currently streaming on Prime Video will be labelled ‘Watch for Free’ so both Prime and non-Prime members can easily see what’s available for free, the company said.
