Monsoon Certified by Amazon Services to Provide Price Optimization Technology to Retailers Selling Through the Amazon.com Web site
February 1, 2006
Monsoon, the premier provider of online marketplace sales management software, today announced that it is now an Amazon Services certified provider of price optimization technology to retailers selling their products through the Amazon Marketplace. Monsoon began building software for retailers selling through the Amazon.com Web site in 2002 by being among the first software development companies to leverage the Amazon product data and technology platform offered through Amazon Web Services.
Monsoon provides software that enables retailers to easily load, competitively price, and more efficiently manage items they list on the Amazon Marketplace. For example, Monsoon's pricing software enables retailers to optimize their pricing based on market demand, providing retailers with the potential to increase sales while at the same time preserving their margins and profitability.
As a certified provider, Monsoon works closely with Amazon Services to continuously enhance Monsoon's services for retailers selling through the Amazon Marketplace. "Monsoon has built an application that can help Amazon Marketplace retailers become even more successful selling through our site," said Matt Williams, Amazon Services Director of Technology Alliances. "By using Monsoon's technology, Marketplace retailers can more strategically price their products and grow their business on Amazon.com, which results in a broader selection of products for Amazon.com customers."
A 2003 survey of traditional retailers conducted by Retail Systems & Services and Retail Systems Alert Advisory Service, "AMPA Merchandise Planning Systems & Process Survey," indicated that only a small percentage of retailers (five percent of respondents) had incorporated pricing optimization technology. The researchers attributed some of the reluctance to many merchants' tendency to price items according to instinct rather than through technology that relies upon scientific data, despite numerous recommendations from consultants.
Monsoon CEO Kanth Gopalpur believes that Amazon Marketplace sellers are able to build their businesses more quickly through the use of the Monsoon technology. "We're pleased to join Amazon Services in making pricing technology even more accessible for businesses of all sizes," said Mr. Gopalpur.
Monsoon's relationship with Amazon.com dates back to 1997 when Monsoon CEO Kanth Gopalpur, as an employee of Powell's Books, helped the Portland, Ore.-based new and used bookstore become one of the first retailers on Amazon Marketplace. Once Golpalpur started Monsoon in 2000 to build e-commerce systems for other retailers, he began serving companies that sold used media products such as books and videos. While working with a customer named Savers, whose thrift stores contained hundreds of thousands of used books, Monsoon realized the value of automated, accurate pricing. Monsoon turned to Amazon Web Services as a source of the technology and product data it needed to created a sales management tool for large and medium-sized retailers selling on Amazon.com.