Amazon’s Next Big Bet: Restocking Shelves at Physical Stores

  • Service brings inventory to stores instead of shoppers’ homes
  • E-commerce titan is expanding push into logistics, services

The service will augment the company’s other programs like Buy with Prime.

Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
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Amazon.com Inc. is offering a new service that will let its 2 million merchant partners deliver inventory directly to physical retail stores and warehouses, the latest push by the e-commerce giant to expand its logistics network beyond serving online shoppers.

Amazon on Tuesday announced that the service, which is currently in a pilot test, will be more broadly available later this year. The offering was unveiled this week at Amazon Accelerate, a conference that drew about 2,000 online merchants to Seattle.