Amazon Debuts Launchpad: New Marketing and Sales Portal

Amazon unveiled Launchpad this week, a new platform designed to help hardware and physical goods startups market and distribute their new products on Amazon’s e-commerce site. Launchpad, which currently features more than 200 items from a wide variety of startups, will compete with similar services offered by Product Hunt, Shopify and Shyp. Amazon is going big with the new platform, positioning it as a global product with access to 10 international distribution portals, and working with 25 VC firms, accelerators and crowdfunding services.

Andreessen Horowitz, Y Combinator and Indiegogo are reportedly on board, but it is not yet known in what specific capacity.

“Presumably Amazon’s Launchpad will be offered as an option to startups working with these VCs, accelerators and crowdfunding platforms for the time when they are ready to consider distribution,” TechCrunch speculates.

Amazon_Launchpad

Amazon is addressing some of the major cost and implementation challenges for startups in regards to commerce and distribution. It says Launchpad “offers a streamlined onboarding experience, custom product pages, a comprehensive marketing package, and access to Amazon’s global fulfillment network.”

Amazon Launchpad gives customers access to a dedicated storefront featuring a variety of innovative new products from emerging brands,” said Jim Adkins, vice president, Amazon. “For startups, we handle inventory management, order fulfillment, customer service, and more, allowing them to focus their efforts on the innovation that results in more cool products.”

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