SEATTLE--June 20, 2000--Amazon.com (Nasdaq:AMZN), the No. 1 online book retailer, and FedEx (NYSE:FDX) are teaming up to deliver the highly anticipated Harry Potter Book IV to eagerly waiting fans on Saturday, July 8 -- the first day the book is available to the public.
In an agreement almost certain to produce the largest distribution event to date of any single item in e-commerce, Amazon.com is offering complimentary Saturday shipping upgrades to the first 250,000 Harry Potter Book IV orders placed via the Amazon.com Web site.
Using both FedEx Home Delivery and FedEx Express services, this exclusive arrangement will provide special door-to-door deliveries in the continental United States for as many as a quarter-million orders placed at Amazon.com prior to the book's publication. Even after the 250,000 FedEx upgrades, Amazon.com customers can still order Harry Potter Book IV.
"We have been amazed to watch the Harry Potter phenomenon grow at Amazon.com," said Lyn Blake, general manager of Amazon.com Books. "Our Harry Potter Book IV customers represent the highest number of pre-orders we have ever received for a book -- many of them placed months in advance. We wanted to join with the most recognized name in delivery to be the provider of reading enjoyment on day one of the book release."
"FedEx Home Delivery and FedEx Express will provide Amazon.com with the tailored solution it needs to make the sale and distribution of Harry Potter Book IV a historic event in Internet commerce," said T. Michael Glenn, executive vice president, market development & corporate communications.
FedEx Home Delivery, launched in March, is a ground service dedicated to meeting the needs of business-to-consumer shippers and their residential customers. It provides cost-effective services, such as appointment and evening delivery not generally available in the home-delivery sector.
Allowing fans to avoid the endless lines, the crowded stores and the frantic shopping centers, the Amazon.com Harry Potter experience will be one of convenience and ease of delivery.
Here are a few key facts about this undertaking:
-- FedEx will mobilize more than 9,000 delivery personnel and
vehicles from more than 700 stations covering the continental
United States and about 100 regularly scheduled FedEx flights.
-- Harry Potter Book IV is Amazon.com's largest pre-order book
ever, with more than 169,000 orders to date. This number is more than three times the advance orders for the third Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. -- Harry Potter Book IV has been the No. 1 best-selling book at Amazon.com for 15 of the past 20 weeks since February 9.
Harry Potter Book IV orders placed outside of the FedEx Saturday delivery area will be shipped in the manner originally requested via Amazon.com. FedEx cannot deliver on Saturday to addresses outside of the contiguous U.S. (including Alaska and Hawaii), P.O. boxes, APO/FPO addresses, certain ZIP codes, commercial addresses without a signature or customers who have ordered more than nine copies in a single order.
About Amazon.com
Amazon.com (Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries) is the Internet's No. 1 music, No. 1 DVD and video, and No. 1 book retailer. Amazon.com (Nasdaq:AMZN) opened its virtual doors on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection, along with online auctions and free electronic greeting cards. Amazon.com lists more than 18 million unique items in categories including books, CDs, toys, electronics, videos, DVDs, tools and hardware, lawn and patio items, kitchen products, software, and video games. Through Amazon.com zShops, any business or individual can sell virtually anything to Amazon.com's more than 20 million customers, and with Amazon.com Payments, any seller can accept credit card transactions, avoiding the hassles of offline payments. The company also participates in sothebys.amazon.com, the leading auction site for guaranteed art, jewelry, and collectibles, at www.sothebys.amazon.com.
Amazon.com seeks to be the world's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they may want to buy online. Amazon.com's All Product Search scours the Web to help customers find merchandise that is not available at Amazon.com, Amazon.com Auctions, or Amazon.com zShops, making Amazon.com the shopping destination to find anything. Amazon Anywhere is the leader in mobile e-commerce, providing access from anywhere in the world to Amazon.com on personal digital assistants (PDAs) and through handheld wireless Internet devices that use HDML or the Wireless Application Protocol.
Amazon.com operates two international Web sites: www.amazon.co.uk and www.amazon.de. It also operates the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), the Web's comprehensive and authoritative source of information on more than 220,000 movies and entertainment programs and 800,000 cast and crew members dating from the birth of film in 1892 to 2003.
Amazon.com has invested in leading Internet retailers that are improving the lives of customers by making shopping easier and more convenient: Greenlight.com, the only company that offers car buyers the control of auto purchasing online with ongoing service and support from local dealerships, at www.greenlight.com; living.com, the leading online home products and services retailer, at www.living.com; drugstore.com, an online retail and information source for health, beauty, wellness, personal care and pharmacy, at www.drugstore.com; Pets.com, the online leader for pet products, expert information, and services, at www.pets.com; HomeGrocer.com, the first fully integrated Internet grocery-shopping and home-delivery service -- with operations in Seattle; Portland, Oregon; and Southern California -- at www.homegrocer.com; Gear.com, which offers brand-name sporting goods at prices from 20 to 90 percent off retail, at www.gear.com; Ashford.com, the leading Internet retailer of luxury and premium products and the Web's No. 1 retailer of watches and jewelry, at www.ashford.com; Audible, Inc., the leader in Internet-delivered spoken audio for PC-based listening or playback on AudibleReady portable digital audio devices, at www.audible.com; eZiba.com, a leading online retailer of handcrafted products from around the world, at www.eziba.com; and WineShopper.com, the San Francisco- and Napa-based Internet start-up that will ultimately offer consumers online access to the largest selection of wines available anywhere, at www.wineshopper.com.
Amazon.com also has a minority interest in Della.com, which brings together leading retailers with gift registry, expert advice, and personalized gift suggestions to help everyone give better gifts, at www.della.com; NextCard, Inc., considered the industry's leading issuer of consumer credit on the Internet, at www.nextcard.com; and Kozmo.com, the world's leading "e-mmediate" Internet-to-door delivery service, at www.kozmo.com.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, Amazon.com's limited operating history, anticipated losses, significant amount of indebtedness, unpredictability of future revenues, potential fluctuations in quarterly operating results, seasonality, consumer trends, competition, risk of distribution center expansion, risks related to fourth quarter performance, risks of system interruption, management of potential growth, inventory risks, risks related to auction and zShops services, risks related to fraud and Amazon.com Payments, and risks of new business areas, international expansion, business combinations, and strategic alliances. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1999, and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2000.
About FedEx:
With annual revenues exceeding $18 billion, FedEx Corp. is the premier global provider of transportation, logistics, e-commerce and supply chain management services. The company offers integrated business solutions through a network of subsidiaries operating independently, including: FedEx Express, the world's largest express transportation company; FedEx Ground, North America's second largest provider of small package ground delivery service; FedEx Logistics, an integrated logistics, technology and transportation-solution company; FedEx Custom Critical, the world's largest provider of expedited time-critical shipments; FedEx Trade Networks Inc., providing customs brokerage, consulting, information technology and trade facilitation solutions; and Viking Freight, the leading regional freight carrier in the western United States. More than 2.5 million customers are connected electronically through the FedEx information network, and approximately two-thirds of its U.S. domestic transactions are now handled online.