Woot.com joins Zappos on team Amazon

Amazon must have found some change in their couch. The Seattle-based sales giant has purchased one of the original deal-a-day sites, Woot. TechCrunch reported that the sale price was $110 million, a drop in the bucket when compared to Amazon’s $920 million purchase of Zappos.com, but the acquisition indicates that Amazon is seriously considering the power of alternative shopping options.

Seattle Business Magazine Editor Leslie Helm spoke with Matt McIlwain earlier this year and he highlighted “shopping as entertainment” as an industry that would continue to grow.

Sites like Woot and Gilt took the traditional method of boring old shopping and added a dose of excitment. Instead of competing to have the biggest selection, both sites offer one or two great deals every day, leaving customers to wonder if they should buy today’s deal, or wait for something better tomorrow. Consumers are now much more connected with the retailer as they have to check back regularley to see if they have won an item or if a new item is available. This method of shopping doesn’t provide the find anything on the planet experience of stores like Amazon.com, but it does provide a very intimate shopping experience.

Here is what Woot CEO Matt Rutledge had to say about the acquisition. Two points for being hilarious.