Mothercare is to abandon the Amazon ecommerce platform it uses, leaving the online giant with no big UK retailer customers for its third-party services after 2013.
Mothercare’s decision, effective from early next year, follows that of Marks & Spencer which is also migrating to another platform within two years.
Although retailers welcomed Amazon’s expertise as they established their own ecommerce operations, they have found the platform limiting as their multichannel businesses have grown.
A Mothercare spokesperson said: “We are revamping our website in 2012 to bring it in line with best practice as our customers are increasingly shopping on the web.”
A similar trend emerged in the US where Amazon lost its biggest client Target, which ended its partnership with the etailer this year.
No comment was available from Amazon but ecommerce consultancy Javelin chief executive Tony Stockil said limitations of the Amazon platform included not being geared up for multichannel shopper behaviour.
He said: “Amazon’s solution is great but its built for Amazon. There is a difference between being a trader and a service provider.”
He believed the changes are not bad for Amazon and said: “It’s a lot of effort to maintain large-scale third party websites. There are bigger opportunities for Amazon.”
Amazon is close to hiring former Asda director Doug Gurr as UK strategy director. It is understood that Gurr, who left Asda in January, will join Amazon later this year.
When his departure was unveiled in December, Asda chief executive Andy Clarke said he had “transformed Asda.com into Britain’s second-biggest home shopping service”.
No comments yet