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By Sonya Rabbitte, 29 May 2002 16:25

NEWS In yet another move away from its bookshop roots Amazon.com is trialling restaurant reviews and mail order catalogue listings on its US customers. The latest services, introduced last week, play on Amazon's strongest point - its 29 million-strong customer base. American mail order firms, including furniture seller French Country Living and jewellers Tiffany & Co and Cartier have signed up for the test period, hoping to tap into Amazon's customer base. The catalogue service also includes listings for professional products such as scientific, medical and industrial equipment. The companies can list an online version of their catalogues which users view through the Amazon.com website. But customers will still need to call the retailer to place orders. The restaurant review section will feature restaurant listings in Seattle, Boston, San Franciso, New York and Chicago. Visitors can view menus, read customer reviews and make reservations by phone. Both services are currently free to customers and vendors, although Amazon has not yet confirmed if it will start charging either party once the test period is over. However, analysts see the services as a revenue boosting move for Amazon. Previous experimentation with such value added services has usually led to a fee-based model, such as Amazon's wedding registry, and its latest addition - a fee-based marketplace for exchanging second hand goods. Amazon rivals Yahoo! and eBay have also attached fees to new services in a bid to supplement flagging revenue from their core activities. While the new services seem to be a world away from the company's core book selling business, IDC analyst Daniel O'Boyle Kelly is confident Amazon has done its homework and knows what its customers want. "Jeff Bezos is customer-centric, he will live and die by that," said O'Boyle Kelly. "I don't think Amazon does things haphazardly. Their database is the most valuable asset they have and they've obviously been able to tap into that. The profile of catalogue users and restaurant goers obviously matches their own customer profile." For related news, see:
Amazon moves in on eBay terri