Amazon Buys Woot, Forays Into Real-Time Social Shopping

Amazon’s acquisition of online social shopping store Woot.com has the market wondering about the new possibilities of the merger. Read Write Web got hold of Michael Vorel, the CEO of Vastplanet to share his views on the deal. Vorel says that with media convergence bringing Amazon into direct competition with home TV shopping networks, the company would benefit from Woot.com’s real-time social shopping to offer better pricing and a more successful operation.

Vorel’s explains:

It’s an excellent move by Amazon. Amazon needed something that was real-time shopping, in the sense of a QVC or HSN [Home Shopping Network]. It gives Amazon the opportunity to tie together with existing retailers into a daily special. I think what we’re going to see from Woot is, we’ll see more interesting products roll through and maybe a hint of more categories per day. That would allow a lot more people to play within Woot and a lot more money to be made.

The products they [Woot] are selling are so slim margin, they needed to look at other ways to make money. Someone like Amazon could look at behavioral learning techniques, they could learn how to serve those people.

Amazon

Read Write Web: “Woot + Amazon = Real-Time Social Shopping”