SEATTLE--Nov. 9, 2000--Leading online retailer Amazon.com (Nasdaq:AMZN)(www.amazon.com) today announced it has officially kicked off the holiday shopping season, launching a new Gifts store (www.amazon.com/gifts) and thanking its customers with the gift of free shipping through November 22.
Customers shopping at Amazon.com between now and November 22 can find holiday gifts for their loved ones in all stores -- Books, Toys & Games, Electronics, Music, DVD, Video, Kitchen, Camera & Photo, Computer & Video Games, Software, Lawn & Patio and Tools & Hardware -- and receive free standard shipping if their order exceeds $100 and is shipped to a single U.S. address. Detailed information can be found at www.amazon.com/free-shipping-offer.
"Our mission this holiday season is to be the place customers go to easily find, discover and buy the perfect gift -- from the Big George Foreman grill to the Poo-Chi interactive puppy -- for everyone on their list," said David Risher, Amazon.com's senior vice president and general manager of U.S. stores. "We also wanted to give our customers a gift this holiday season, so we're inviting them to shop early, ship free, and have peace of mind knowing their items will arrive on time, beautifully wrapped from Amazon.com."
Amazon.com has also launched a new Gifts store that brings the best gift ideas from across the site together in a dedicated holiday area. Customers can access the store directly from the Amazon.com welcome page, and once there will enjoy gift suggestions and recommendations for even the most difficult person on their list. Holiday shoppers can browse the store by price, age, interests or top sellers to discover great gifts under $10, $25, $50, $100 or higher; gifts for the kid at heart, the brainiac or the romantic; a variety of stocking stuffers; Amazon.com's favorite and most popular items; and much more. Visitors will also find several new features designed to make holiday shopping easy and stress-free, including:
Gift Wizard: This new gift recommendations tool provides custom gift suggestions to match the recipient's interests. Customers can enter information about the recipient, or click on a category to see Amazon.com's top picks. Customers will find recommendations for everything from a "Fitness Fanatic" and "Gadget Lover" to holiday essentials for Hanukkah, New Year's and more.
Wish Lists: One of Amazon.com's most popular and most quickly adopted features, Wish Lists allow customers to create lists of the Amazon.com products they'd most like to receive as gifts, similar to a wedding registry. With Wish Lists, customers can eliminate the guesswork from gift buying, feel good about choosing a gift the recipient will love and send it with the click of a mouse -- no hunting for addresses, no trips to the post office. This year customers can even send e-cards to friends and loved ones asking them to complete a Wish List.
Corporate Gift Recommendations: Amazon.com's expert editorial staff recommends fun and appropriate gifts for coworkers by price, interests and product category. Gift Certificates with Holiday e-Cards: Customers can now attach gift certificates ranging in value from $5 to $5,000 to more than 100 holiday-themed electronic greeting cards and e-mail them to friends and loved ones. E-mail gift certificates, and e-cards with attached gift certificates, arrive hours after having been sent and are popular last-minute gifts.
Gift Wrapping for All Occasions: Our festive gift-wrapping was designed exclusively for Amazon.com customers and is terrific for all ages and occasions. New Stores, Product Lines and Partners: Amazon.com also forged an alliance with Toysrus.com to create a co-branded toy store at Amazon.com. The new Toysrus.com teamed with Amazon.com site (www.toysrus.com) combines the strengths of the world's No. 1 toy retailer with the world's leading online retailer, bringing consumers the best of both worlds in time for the holidays. Toysrus.com, the most recognized toy brand in the world, offers customers a vast selection of the hottest products, great deals and exclusive offers. Amazon.com provides its expertise to manage all aspects of the online shopping experience, including site features and content, customer service and delivery.
Since last holiday season, Amazon.com has also added new stores featuring vast product lines, continuing to enhance Earth's Biggest Selection and making Amazon.com the place to find, discover and buy a gift for everyone this holiday. These additions include Kitchen, Camera & Photo, and dedicated DVD, Software, and Computer & Video Games stores; New Cars, via trusted partner Greenlight.com; and Health & Beauty, through trusted partner drugstore.com.
About Amazon.com
Amazon.com (Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries) is the Internet's No. 1 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 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 lists more than 28 million unique items in categories such as electronics, kitchen products, books, music, DVDs, videos, camera and photo items, toys, software, computer and video games, tools and hardware, and lawn and patio items. Through Amazon.com zShops, any business or individual can sell virtually anything to Amazon.com's more than 25 million customers, 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.fr, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de and www.amazon.jp. It also operates the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), the Web's comprehensive and authoritative source of information on more than 250,000 movies and entertainment titles and 1 million cast and crew members dating from the birth of film in 1891 to 2003.
Amazon Anywhere is the leader in mobile e-commerce, providing access from anywhere in the world to Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.de on personal digital assistants (PDAs) and through handheld wireless Internet devices that use HDML or the Wireless Application Protocol.
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, strategic alliances and the Amazon Commerce Network. 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 and 10-K/A for the year ended December 31, 1999, and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2000, June 30, 2000, and September 30, 2000.