SEATTLE, Aug 22, 2001 -- Amazon.com (Nasdaq:AMZN) (www.amazon.com) today launched a new Corporate Accounts program (www.amazon.com/corporate), accepting online purchase orders from qualified businesses, libraries, schools, government institutions and other organizations that want to purchase items from across the Amazon.com Web site without using a credit card.
The program also features a suite of new account management tools designed specifically for corporate and institutional buyers.
Created to offer professional purchasers greater flexibility and a simpler shopping experience, the Amazon.com Corporate Accounts program allows customers to easily create and manage an account in accordance with their purchasing needs. This includes choosing a preferred payment method -- corporate customers can now shop using online purchase orders or credit cards -- as well as the ability to designate account managers and authorized purchasers. Organizations that opt to pay by purchase order can apply for credit online, receive a line of credit and begin buying within minutes.
Corporate account holders will also enjoy access to an online order history for all account purchases; one consolidated, line-item bill for all account activity; and the option to receive an e-mail notification every time a purchase is made.
"We're happy to announce that qualifying libraries, businesses and institutions of all shapes and sizes can now purchase from Amazon.com without using a credit card," said Jason Kilar, vice president of media products at Amazon.com. "Whether it's local librarians ordering hard-to-find titles, corporate librarians purchasing training materials or small businesses buying software and printers, these customers will now be able to use purchase orders as a method of payment at Amazon.com."
Hundreds of organizations have already created an Amazon.com corporate account, including Johns Hopkins University's Sheridan Libraries, Northwestern University Law Library, Stanford University Libraries, Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) and 3Com (Nasdaq: COMS).
"Amazon.com's Corporate Accounts program is a great solution to help the library meet the needs of our faculty and students," said JoAnn Hounshell, head of acquisitions at Northwestern University Law Library. "In addition to accepting purchase orders, they've made it incredibly easy to set up and manage a corporate account. It's a great benefit for us to be able to find and buy so many of the titles our library needs in one place, and we know we can rely on them for timely and accurate delivery and excellent customer service."
Library purchasers, small-business owners, corporate purchasing managers and others can use their corporate accounts to shop across the Amazon.com Web site, purchasing everything from books, software and other media products, to electronics such as printers and fax machines, to tools and hardware, and much more.
Amazon.com is also offering corporate purchasers a promotional credit of up to $125 based on account purchases made through October 15, 2001. Customers can apply their credit to future Amazon.com orders.
About Amazon.com
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 seeks to be the world's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online. Amazon.com and sellers list millions of unique new and used items in categories such as electronics, kitchen and housewares, books, music, DVDs, videos, camera and photo items, toys, software, computer and video games, cell phones and service, tools and hardware, and outdoor living products. Through Amazon Marketplace, zShops and Auctions, any business or individual can sell virtually anything to Amazon.com's over 35 million cumulative customer accounts, and with Amazon.com Payments, sellers can accept credit card transactions, avoiding the hassles of offline payments.
Amazon.com operates four international Web sites: www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.fr and www.amazon.co.jp. It also operates the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), the Web's comprehensive and authoritative source of information on more than 275,000 movies and entertainment titles and 1 million cast and crew members dating from the birth of film.
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. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, Amazon.com's anticipated losses, significant amount of indebtedness, competition, seasonality, potential fluctuations in operating results, management of potential growth, risks of system interruption, consumer trends, risk of fulfillment center optimization, inventory risks, limited operating history, risks related to fraud and Amazon.com Payments, and risks of new business areas, international expansion, business combinations, strategic alliances and strategic partnerships. 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, 2000, and all subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.