Amazon is the world’s largest online retailer and as such is an enormous source of potential product for individual’s considering venturing into online marketing. Amazon provides a complete range of physical products ranging from tiny to enormous, from cheap to expensive and the whole gamut in between.

Amazon

With such a range of merchandise available it ought to be possible to find the physical products to purchase or else alternatively to make use of Amazon merchandise to stock an online store.

Amazon could be used to purchase actual merchandise to sell online independently. There are advantages to doing this. Amazon operates with extensive catalogues and product descriptions.

Product has good visual merchandising and pricing. There are very transparent statements made relating to replacements and warranties and exchange which should be considered before purchasing.

Consumer information and product reviews are also readily available. All of the above could be employed to make informed purchasing decisions.

The disadvantage of purchasing product through Amazon is that by doing so an online trader immediately places themselves in direct competition with Amazon and their pricing.

To overcome this it would be necessary to select items that have an ambiguous value such as keepsakes to avoid obvious comparisons.

Amazon itself offers a method of overcoming the issue of being in direct competition by allowing online retailers to become an Amazon
affiliate. The affiliates undertake certain administrative procedures and give in banking details and are then able to select a range of product to place in their own online Amazon stores.

They are required to set up their website and formulate their own product descriptions and pricing and the affiliate is rewarded for sales that are made within the store in the form of a commission.

Amazon could be used profitably by anyone considering online selling.