Amazon launches its newest private label, Wickedly Prime | Hacker News Reader

Amazon launches its newest private label, Wickedly Prime

techcrunch.com

50 pointsprostoalex23 comments

Isn't AmazonBasics also a private label that makes its affiliation with Amazon obvious? The article says quite explicitly and numerous times that Wikedly Prime is the first time Amazon has done this :/.

It is weird, the article even says further down "The retailer seems to know what it’s doing, too. An earlier report from 1010data found that Amazon’s private label brands were taking over market share in their respective categories, including speakers (thanks to Amazon Echo), baby wipes (Amazon Elements), and batteries (AmazonBasics)."

The AmazonBasics brand was introduced in 2009 [1].

[1] http://www.geekwire.com/2014/amazon-launches-private-label-d...

> Wickedly Prime is the first brand since the debut of Amazon Elements two years ago to make its affiliation with Amazon known.

Dad On Demand?

Father As a Service?

Ah ha: I apparently misread that sentence in multiple ways. :(

With wicked right in the name, i'd assumed they'd be addressing more sins than just gluttony.

Wrath could be pretty easily handled by nerf guns, or perhaps airsoft/paintball. Sloth with home automation. Envy and lust seem straightforward.

Pride and greed might be tough though.

The name made me think it was maybe some kind of weird Amazon Prime service for sex toys and stuff like that.

Perfect choice for a name. No business is safe, Amazon is your competitor or soon will be. Hide your kids, hide your wife.

Remember to give you wife and kids a family-size bag of Wickedly Prime Blue Corn Tortilla Chips so they have something delicious and great value to munch on when hiding.

Unfortunately Wickedly Bezos Tortilla Chips are only available from amazon's site. So if you order them odds are you would get counterfeit chips from China instead. Dangerous.

I didn't realize "wicked" was still slang. Regardless, Wickedly Prime strikes me the wrong way as a name -- it's almost too self-conscious.

In the Bay Area they may have to offer HellaPrime instead.

I would have loved if they called their same-day ("more" Prime) service that, instead of "Prime Now".

I don't think this is the slang usage of the word. Wicked means bad or naughty, and this is junk food, so it's a self-deprecating but conventional use of the word.

Creepy logo but at least it's not monetizing human trafficking, yet.

Give Mechanical Turk a couple more years ;)

Am I the only one who thinks this is a signal that Amazon's core business has peaked and it is now desperately exploring any new opportunity to grow their revenue? Literally no business is safe.

If a business cannot grow up, it grows out.

What? This is as traditional of a move as they come. Virtually every other retailer has some lower cost in-house brand that rebrands generic items. Amazon is just doing the same. This is classic vertical integration at work.

The one difference I'd say is that the AmazonBasics house brand is usually leaps and bounds better than the competition for much cheaper. I needed a monitor arm, and they happened to have the cheapest one at the time - the next most expensive one had bad reviews for not being strong enough for heavier screens.

AmazonBasics is (aside from Monoprice) my go-to for cables. They're not the absolute best quality, but 92% of the time they're plenty good enough.

That's Amazon's MO.

Amazon 3P seller/manufacturer here: this is what they mean and do when they say your margin is their opportunity.

It means people can't just go to China, lock down a manufacturer, and sit easy for years flipping the same old product without actively trying to push the product forward. Amazon will play the same game with you, and they have the advantage of sales data + a willingness to drive traffic over profits.

In a similar spirit, they also do this to distributors who basically order case packs from manufacturers then list them on Amazon -- once you reach a certain volume Amazon contacts the manufacturers themselves and cut you out.

I wouldn't be surprised if Amazon starts building their own factories after awhile to replace out manufacturers -- vertical integration is their playbook.

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