Endless.com: Amazon Busts Out of Its Brand

For the first time, Amazon.com has created a retail Web site that isn't branded Amazon. Endless.com, just out in beta, sells shoes and handbags, a hot area that Gap recently jumped into with PiperLime and that's populated by fast-growing successes such as Zappos. Not only can you not tell it's an Amazon site until you check out (and are given the option to log in with your Amazon username and password), but it has features not seen on Amazon, such as free overnight shipping, more useful search and browsing methods, and zoom-in capability on products.

Amazon says only that it saw an opportunity with shoes and handbags to target buyers who are very particular about how they buy these products: They want them fast, and they want to be able to browse them in a more interactive but fast way.