Report: An unlikely partnership hints at Amazon’s next move

3/13/2018
Instagram posts from Khloe Kardashian might have revealed Amazon’s next business quest.

Khloe Kardashian threw a baby shower last weekend, one that came to fruition through a sponsorship deal with Amazon, according to Business Insider.

According to the reality star’s Instagram posts, she is a member of Amazon’s baby registry, a service that features “millions of products” ranging from bottles and strollers to cribs and swings. Users can manage the registry on any device, and Amazon offers free 90-day returns on most items, according to Amazon’s website.

The partnership could be a hint that Amazon is pursuing a bigger investment in the baby and toy category. By leveraging the Kardashian family’s social media following and reality television series, the online giant could create sponsored content that could bolster its traction across the category, according to Business Insider.

The online giant dominated the online kids' market with $2.16 billion in online sales in 2016, according to data from ecommercedb.com.

This eclipsed both Walmart and Toys “R” Us, which reported approximately $1.3 billion, and $912 million in online sales, respectively, during the same period.

Toys “R” Us, which filed for bankruptcy in September, continues an upward battle to compete with Amazon. The company announced last month that it planned to shutter an additional 200 stores and lay off a significant portion of its corporate staff. This came after a court filing in January in which the chain said it was planning to shrink its U.S. store portfolio by as much as 20% — about 180 locations — as part of a plan to emerge from bankruptcy before the 2018 holiday season.

Last week, the company reported it was making preparations to liquidate its operations in the United States.
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