Amazon.com Inc. has acquired Selz, a Sydney-based e-commerce platform that helps small businesses create their own websites much the way Shopify Inc. does.
Selz founder and Chief Executive Officer Martin Rushe announced the acquisition in a blog post: “We have signed an agreement to be acquired by Amazon and are looking forward to working with them as we continue to build easy-to-use tools for entrepreneurs. Nothing is changing for our customers at this time, and we’ll be in touch with customers as and when we have further updates.”
Amazon spokeswoman confirmed the acquisition, but no terms were disclosed.
The acquisition signals Amazon’s interest in letting small businesses use their own websites rather than trying to direct all their traffic to its marketplace, where merchants pay commissions on each sale as well as delivery fees. Shopify is popular among many online sellers because the Canadian company gives them more control over the customer experience.
Shopify shares slipped less than 1% on Tuesday.
News of the blog post, made a month ago, was reported earlier by Geekwire.
