Amazon has unveiled "Buy with Prime," a service that let's other online retailers use its vast delivery network to fulfill orders on their own websites. At the same time, it will be another Prime subscriber perk for goods they might not be able to find directly on Amazon.
Merchants using it will be able to put the Prime badge on their own websites beside eligible items available for free next-day or two-day delivery. Then, Prime members can purchase the product using the payment and shipping details already stored on their Amazon accounts.
Sellers will pay for the service with fees depending on the card processor, fulfillment and more. To start with, it's launching by invitation to Amazon sellers already using Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), but will eventually expand to other merchants, even if they're not on Amazon.
FBA retailers currently pay to store inventory in Amazon's warehouses and use its shipping services, and in return, get the valued Prime logo on Amazon-listed products. Amazon recently announced that it would charge them an additional 5 percent fuel and inflation surcharge on top of the FBA fees they're already paying. It also has a program called Multi-Channel Fulfillment that allows retailers to store and ship goods using its logistics chain.
Using FBA may have been akin to a deal with the devil for some sellers, however. Amazon has been accused in the past of using seller data to create its own private label products like car trunk organizers and Peak Design bags, The Wall Street Journal reported back in 2020. Amazon denied this, but the SEC recently launched an investigation into the practice.
Buy with Prime also means Amazon will be competing directly with shipping services like FedEx and UPS. The company recently said that it was about to become the largest delivery service in the US, according to CNBC. It also recently reported that its third-part seller services, including shipping, fulfillment and others, brought in $30.3 billion in the last quarter alone.