Amazon Anywhere is a new program that will give users Android and iOS apps alongside virtual worlds and interactive digital environments. With Amazon Anywhere, you can discover and buy physical products from Amazon stores without leaving your game or app. This will be a boon to anyone who runs audiobook or e-reading apps and wants to sell digital content. It will also assist independent game designers and studios in selling things like merchandise.
Amazon wants to create a new landscape for shoppable entertainment and digital experiences while continuing to meet our customers where they are with the products they love. Most shopping in virtual worlds is currently limited to purchases of virtual currency and in-game digital items, with no easy path to purchase physical products. Amazon wants to change that.
With Amazon Anywhere, we’re bringing the convenience and ease of shopping in Amazon stores to Peridot. There’s a sense of excitement in discovering unique and relevant items within the game that you can deliver right to your door.
You don’t have to leave your game or app to purchase physical products—enjoy your experience of engaging with the fun things you’ll find. Once you’re ready to buy, you can expect the same great selection, low prices, easy checkout, fast delivery, and best-in-class customer support as you would from shopping in Amazon stores.
For content creators, Amazon Anywhere is invite-only. They have a small landing page that lists some of the key features. There is no documentation on how to set it up until you are approved.
Amazon is the latest retailer to create merchandise aimed at gamers, following efforts of stores like Walmart, Nike, Gucci, Lacoste and PacSun that have created competitions, fashion shows and virtual goods in games.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
