Amazon Needs A New Toy Box
from the guess-they're-not-really-under-the-hood-after-all dept
Amazon was dealt a blow today, when a New Jersey Court ruled that Toys 'R' Us could void a 10-year agreement that had the online retailer running their internet operations. The basis for Toys 'R' Us' complaint was that Amazon, by allowing independent retailers to sell toys on the site, wasn't upholding a promise of exclusivity in the toy department. At the time this case emerged, it seemed that Amazon would be just fine if the troubled toy-seller decided to leave. What a difference two years makes. Today there are serious doubts, after all this time, as to whether the company's core retailing business is even profitable. After losing Toys 'R' Us, and last year The Gap, the company's main money-making division may be in serious trouble. Besides, who needs a convenient centralized shopping site anymore, when you can now go shopping from the edge.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
What were they BOTH thinking?
Secondly, why would Amazon be so dumb? I'm amazed at both of them.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: What were they BOTH thinking?
Can't imagine a company that still has cave-man business practices today was able to fully comprehend the alternate time scale and financial nuances of the tech sector back then.
I bet they both thought the other crazy for agreeing to a 10 year deal.
But back then it could take up to 2 years to get a viable retail site up and running. None of those fancy tools around yet.
And employees would have been much harder to find and much more expensive to hire.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Toys R US vs. Amazon
[ link to this | view in thread ]