Thousands of products from leading manufacturers offering everything from "Do It Yourself" items to "Garden & Leisure Time", "Body Care & Bath" and "Kitchen & Houseware" articles. Specially low-priced offers to celebrate the kickoff include: T.I.P. Akku-Schlagbohrschrauber 18 Volt with 2 Akkus for 15,99 EUR; BOSCH lawn-trimmer Art. 23 G for 24.99 euros, and GARDENA Landmann Rundgrill for 5,95 euros According to an Amazon.de study, 88% of Germany's Internet users are also do-it-yourselfers and more than one in every five Internet users describes himself as having professional-level skills

 

Munich, March 10, 2004 - Amazon.de has opened its new "House & Garden" shop, which offers Internet users a selection of thousands of favorably priced, brand-name products made by leading manufacturers. The "House & Garden" shop offers merchandise in the following categories: "Do It Yourself," "Garden & Leisure Time," "Body Care & Bath" and "Kitchen & Household." Amazon.de offers free delivery on orders worth 20 EUR or more (see site for details).

From backyard ponds to garden dwarves

No matter whether its an electric lawn-trimmer, a handheld weed-puller, garden scissors, a barbecue, a hose system, backyard furniture, a backyard pond, a picnic basket, flowerpots, or accessories for plants: Internet users can conveniently place orders online for items in the new "Garden and Leisure Time" category, which includes everything they for their balconies, gardens, and backyards. Customers can order products from brand-name manufacturers such as Bosch, Kärcher, and Gardena.

Everything for professional craftsmen and enthusiastic do-it-yourselfers

Everything one could possibly need for one's home workshop is available in the new "Do It Yourself" category, which offers items such as electric drills, rechargeable battery-powered screwdrivers, combination pliers, Allen wrenches, steam cleaners and high-pressure cleaners, right-angle grinders, work clothes, toolboxes, carpenter's nails, etc. Among the other items offered here, Amazon.de sells products made by brand-name manufacturers such as Bosch, AEG, Black & Decker, and T.I.P.

"Our goal with the new "House & Garden" shop is to offer Internet users everything they need for their homes and gardens - and to sell those items at the most attractive prices possible," says Ralf Kleber, VP Amazon.de Retail & Marketplace. "Our customers can already select among thousands of products for all areas of daily life. And the assortment is getting bigger every day. We and our partners are continually working to widen our selection of merchandise."

Services in the "House & Garden" Shop

Internet users who visit www.amazon.de/haus will find comprehensive information about the products. This information includes reviews of the merchandise written by Amazon.de's editors, critiques submitted by fellow consumers, plus hourly updated Amazon.de bestseller lists. Amazon.de's customers can use functions that they're already familiar with from previous purchases at Amazon.de. For example, they can use the "comparison function" to compare the specifications and prices of similar products from different manufacturers. So regardless of whether it's for a wedding, a garden party, or a housewarming, everyone can select their favorite items from Amazon.de's enormous selection and enter their choices in a "wish list" at www.amazon.de/wunschzettel. Then you simply send the list to your friends and relatives - and look forward to seeing your dreams come true.

Via Amazon.de Marketplace, house & garden articles that are no longer needed can be posted at Amazon.de within minutes, where they are offered for sale as new or second-hand merchandise. For additional information, please visit www.amazon.de/marketplace.

An Amazon.de online study proves it: "do it yourself" is in and women are "doing it themselves" too

  • There's a strong trend towards "doing it yourself" - and progressively larger numbers of women are taking hammer in hand. In Amazon.de's representative online study, 88% of Internet users described themselves as "do it yourselfers." Heads up men: you're not the only ones who wear the pants nowadays! Eighty-six percent of the women surveyed not only make minor repairs around the house, they also paint their walls, assemble their furniture, or perform skilled tasks such as laying tiles (compared to 90% of the men surveyed). Fifteen percent of women "do it yourselfers" described themselves as having professional-level skills, compared to 39% of their male counterparts.
  • Interior decoration as self-expression. The "decorative area" tops the list of favorite do-it-yourself activities: 95% of women do-it-yourselfers and 93% of men do-it-yourselfers design their own home interiors; 19% of the people queried even build their own furniture. Women love to shop, but that's by no means the end of the story. More than one-third (67%) of all "do-it-herselfers" feel that they can let their imagination run free by decorating their own homes; 49% of the men expressed a similar view. Furthermore, women don't like to buy mass-produced articles (26% of the "do-it-herselfers" compared to 18% of the "do-it-him selfers"). Six percent of the people surveyed said that they achieve better results than professional craftspeople.
  • "Doing it yourself" is relaxing, and professional contractors are too expensive: 40% of the men and 32% of the women said that "doing it yourself" is recreational and relaxing. Men and women agree that professional handymen are simply too costly: that's the opinion of 95% of the men and 89% of the women. Both genders would rather "do it themselves" and save money that they'd otherwise have to pay to a professional contractor.
  • Men believe that "doing it yourself" is sexy: 15% of the men repair leaky faucets or paint their own walls to impress their wives or girlfriends. But beware: 4% of the men use "do it yourself" tasks as an excuse to avoid going along on excursions with their families or girlfriends.
  • Home sweet home! Building one's own home is very popular, especially in eastern Germany. More than one person in ten (12%) in eastern Germany (compared to 7% in western Germany) occasionally does roofing or masonry work in their spare time.
  • Why should I do it myself, when you can do it yourself? Two percent of the people surveyed shy away from even the simplest tasks, e.g. replacing a light bulb. They said that they have "two left hands," that they're congenitally clumsy, and that the man (or woman) they live with is much more skilful and more dexterous anyway. Another excuse for not doing it themselves: it takes too much time to go to a home-supply store and being there isn't much fun.

 

The complete selection available from Amazon.de's new "Household & Garden" shop can be viewed at www.amazon.de/haus. The selections in the new catalogues can be viewed at www.amazon.de/garten and www.amazon.de/heimwerken.

Für weitere Informationen:
Amazon.de GmbH
Public Relations
Christine Höger
Moosacher Straße 51
80809 München
Telefon: 089/35803-233
Telefax: 089/35803-481
E-Mail: choeger@amazon.de

häberlein & mauerer ag
agentur für public relations
Marion Jüstel
Franz-Joseph-Straße1
80801 München
Telefon: 089/38 108-107
Telefax: 089/38 108-150
E-Mail: marion.juestel@haebmau.de

(1) This representative online survey was commissioned by Amazon.de and conducted by Innofact AG from February 18 - 20, 2004. A total of 1,006 Internet users participated in the survey.