Book Baron’s Bounty

Eight months into 2006, Frank Sadowski, VP of global CE Vendor Management, and Noah Herschman, director of audio & video, offered some insights into what’s driving business at the eight-year-old CE division of amazon.com. Sadowski points out that amazon.com’s results differ from its brick-and-mortar competitors in that sales trends “are driven by the customer,” not by a directed sales floor with limited selection.

In the white-hot TV product category, amazon.com has just initiated, on a random test-group basis, its “Click to Call” service for TVs over $1,000—an amenity it has been testing for about six months now in the cell phone category. Customers presented with a “Click to Call” button about a third of the way through the shopping process can input their phone number in a field and an amazon.com consultant will contact them and guide them through the selection process. The company already offers “white glove” delivery on TVs 27 inches and larger for customers willing to pay for a premium. —Nancy Klosek