Amazon.com Enters European Book Market

Posted on October 15, 1998

Leading online retailer Amazon.com formally entered the European market today with the launch of new websites in Germany and the United Kingdom. Amazon.de and Amazon.co.uk opened their virtual "doors" on the World Wide Web early this morning, replacing sites once operated by ABC Bucherdienst in Germany and Bookpages, Ltd., in the U.K. Amazon.com purchased both companies in April.

The two sites will reduce the cost of and shipping time for thousands of U.S. titles, due to a large supply of the most popular U.S. titles ready for immediate shipment from the U.K. and Germany. In addition, thousands of other U.S. titles will be delivered much sooner from Amazon.com facilities in the United States.

Both sites will feature many of the customer features developed by Amazon.com: personalized recommendations, the ability to search for and locate books in a variety of ways, hundreds of browsing lists compiled by specific categories of bestselling books, reviews by experts and customers and 1-Click(TM) ordering.

"'Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.de will provide a whole new level of convenience and customer service for book buyers," said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com's founder and CEO. "These are stores that are open around the clock where people can find the specific books they want and discover others they may also like to buy. It combines the power of the Internet with' a very personalized experience."