Amazon seeks a buyer to stock its shelves with wine

Amazon Inc. is seeking to recruit a senior wine buyer, suggesting the online retailing giant could be planning to add wine to the grocery products it began offering last year.

The senior wine buyer will be responsible for creating an “entirely new selection from the ground up” by working with outside vendors, according to a job posting on the Amazon site. Other duties include: negotiating inventory planning, catalog management and market research. The buyer “must demonstrate a deep and broad experience with the Wine segment, as well as demonstrated ability in buying,” the ad states.

A spokesperson for Amazon.com, No. 1 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, would not comment on the ad or the company’s plans to begin selling wine.

Earlier this year, Amazon chief financial officer Thomas J. Szkutak hinted that the company was looking to add more products. “We are going to continue to make sure that we have increased selection,” Szkutak said in a conference call with analysts.