E-commerce giant Amazon is continuing to expand its third party logistics (3PL) offerings, announcing today that it will provide its Amazon Prime fulfillment muscle for qualified consumers who buy certain goods from sporting goods retailer Adidas’ website and app.
Under terms of the deal, online shoppers who also subscribe to Prime can now get benefits that were previously restricted to purchases made only on the Amazon.com marketplace—like discounted shipping, express delivery, and free returns—applied to certain Adidas goods as well.
First launched in 2022, Amazon offers that arrangement bundled as either a branded “Buy with Prime” service or as a white-labeled “Multi-Channel Fulfillment” (MCF) offering. According to Amazon, both fulfillment solutions leverage Amazon’s network and expertise to pick, pack, ship, and deliver orders from channels beyond Amazon.com, including a merchant’s own website, other e-commerce marketplaces, and social media stores.
To use the service, retailers must store some portion of their inventory in an Amazon distribution center, and pay Amazon a fee for each shopper who elects to use the Buy with Prime system instead of the retailer’s own fulfillment network.
According to Amazon, retailers benefit in return because they can more easily acquire new shoppers, drive purchase conversions, and increase their long-term relationships with customers. Merchants also receive shopper order information, including email addresses for customer orders, which can be used to provide customer service and increase customer loyalty, the company said.
