Amazon Staffers Part Ways With Quidsi Following Profit Stagnation

In the startup atmosphere, there are a few signs that point to success.

Raising enough funds and making enough profit to file an IPO or getting acquired are typically key indicators. Once either of these events occur, a startup is officially considered a success.

After seven years of being under the Amazon umbrella via an acquisition, it’s time to call it quits with Quidsi. This week, Amazon announced its decision to move its staff out of the Quidsi subsidiary following failed profit returns.

An Amazon spokeswoman commented on the decision and the future of the relationship: “We have worked extremely hard for the past seven years to get Quidsi to be profitable, and unfortunately we have not been able to do so. Quidsi has great brand expertise, and they will continue to offer selection on Amazon.com; the software development team will focus on building technology for AmazonFresh.”

By getting acquired by Amazon in 2011 for $500 million, Quidsi — parent company to diapers.com and soap.com — had hoped to contribute to the eCommerce giant’s focus on grocery items. Through Amazon’s “Mom” subscription, special deals were offered via Quidsi’s inventory.

To help further itself down the $600 billion grocery industry track, Amazon is letting Quidsi fall to the wayside to focus its efforts more on its new AmazonFresh locations. Just this week, Amazon announced a test phase for a AmazonFresh Pickup service where people can order ahead groceries and pick them up at a scheduled time.

While there are already grocery delivery services available, like Instacart and Peapod, Amazon takes this to the next level. Whereas most of these services need someone to be home for delivery, which can sometimes be inconvenient, the AmazonFresh system can be set for pickup on the way home.