Amazon tests sales of sporting goods

Adding to its shopping mall atmosphere, Amazon.com is testing a sporting goods category with more than 2,000 brands representing more than 50 sports. As with its other categories, Amazon sells some products directly and some through other merchants. CEO Jeff Bezos said Amazon expects to launch additional category stores this year.

IRCE 2008 Conference Multi-Media CD-ROM

Analysts say the move makes sense for Amazon, which has already produced strong results in selling other categories beyond its original selection of books. "Amazon has had success in selling housewares and tools, so this makes sense for them to broaden their number of categories," says Duif Calvin, a retail analyst based in San Francisco. "And like kitchen and housewares, sporting goods is a category that’s clearly definable."

Amazon faces an established competitor in GSI Commerce Inc., which sells sporting goods online for several professional sports organizations as well as major retail chains like The Sports Authority. But while GSI works behind the scenes to operate the online stores of its clients, Amazon’s strategy of operating under its own brand as well as the brands of other merchants may confuse some shoppers, Calvin says. While all products are purchased through the Amazon shopping cart, some are shipped by Amazon and some are shipped by other merchants such as Baseball Warehouse. "That can be confusing to shoppers, but maybe people are accepting this is as a shopping mall metaphor instead of a store metaphor," Calvin says. "Selling Amazon items and outside merchant items is a complicated mix, but then shopping centers are a complicated mix and consumers have adapted to those."

Amazon has designed its sporting goods section to take advantage of multiple cross-selling opportunities. A listing for a baseball mitt, for instance, refers shoppers to the baseball book "Field of Dreams" and collectible items related to famous professional athletes. Its sporting goods product line extends into areas such as gear for coaches and referees, sports medicine, and licensed products from Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, NASCAR, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the National Football League and the National Hockey League.