Amazon is retiring its sweepstakes service known as Amazon Giveaway. The last day to create a new giveaway is October 10, 2019.
As we explained when Amazon launched the program in 2015, Amazon Giveaway allowed businesses to easily setup and run sweepstakes with Amazon products as the giveaways.
In 2016, Amazon opened the program to include products offered by merchants through its Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA) program. A spokesperson told EcommerceBytes that the program at that point had proven popular among authors, marketers, bloggers and artists as a way to market their brands and products.
In a FAQ about the program titled, “What is Amazon Giveaway?” Amazon provided the following answer:
“A service that helps Sellers and Authors on Amazon to increase product awareness and sales using promotional giveaways (e.g., sweepstakes) that are easy to set up and run. Amazon Giveaway supports securing your prizes, enforcing entry requirements such as watching a brief video, hosting your giveaway, determining winners instantly, getting prizes to winners, and handling certain income tax reporting responsibilities.
“As a host, you decide what you want to give away, and then use Amazon Giveaway to create product awareness and sales. Participants can enter your giveaway with confidence knowing that it will be run as described, prizes are real and will be delivered by Amazon, and their information will be protected. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway.”
And on the Amazon Giveaway landing page, Amazon described the following benefits of the program:
- Grow Your Customers: Increase product discovery & customer engagement with interactive giveaways
- Increase Loyalty: Reward behavior like watching a video or following an author
- Promote Products: Introduce your products to new customers via our marketing channels
- Drive Sales: Offer exclusive discounts to all entrants to drive sales
- Create fun experiences: Engage your audience with customized interactive giveaways
In its announcement in late September, Amazon wrote, “Hello Sellers, We would like to inform you that the Amazon Giveaway program is retiring. The last day to create new giveaways is October 10th, 2019. We would like to thank all Hosts that contributed to awarding customers.”
