While all the other major retailers are busy in offering deals for thanksgiving and the holiday season, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is discreetly entering the local service industry. The online retailer launched a web page allowing customers to find local handymen with the comfort of their home.
The local repair and service business amounts for $400 billion every year and the restraint entry of Amazon in this sector already caught attention. Both Wall Street Journal and Reuters earlier reported the experimenting practices of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) with its service section. According to the current Amazon Local Services web page of the company, the service is currently available in Atlanta, Miami, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, San Francisco, and San Antonio.
As per the reports, the local service options would be available after a consumer makes online purchase of any item requiring installation. According to the industry experts, this is another effort from Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) to compete against the local brick-and-mortar stores.
However, the market ahead is already crowded with established service providers including Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP), Craigslist, and Angie’s List Inc (NASDAQ:ANGI). Amazon has a plan in place to gain a competitive edge over the other service providers. The online retailer would offer a money-back guarantee for the services offered by its registered contractors and the company would involve in background checks of the service companies.
The Local Services page of Amazon would display contractor reviews and the customers would be able to add these services to their shopping cart itself.
Another competitor in the same domain Thumbtack completed a $100 million funding round earlier this year. The CEO of Thumbtack, Marco Zappacosta, said that they were expecting similar offering from Amazon and it makes sense to offer installation services for the products they sell. One potential issue with the service is the fact that the price listings for these services are indicatory and the final negotiation would happen between the contractor and the customer only.
With Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) entering the service industry, there are likely to be multiple upgrades and policy changes before it could match its competitors.
This article has been written by Prakash Pandey.
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