Jet is a startup that wants to beat Amazon at its own game

Amazon is the undisputed king of the e-commerce market, especially here in the West. However, a new startup known as Jet may be the closest thing to a real competitor that Amazon has seen in a while, especially considering it was founded by a former Amazon executive. The startup’s Insider program has been very promising, with 352,000 signups in the first 73 days.

Jet, the ambitious ecommerce startup created by a former Amazon exec, appears to be taking off with close to 352,000 signups for its Insider program in the company’s first 73 days. For comparison’s sake, a Jet representative pointed out that the figure is larger than Quidsi’s customer base when Amazon purchased it in 2010. The contrast is notable; Quidsi, an ecommerce firm that is the parent of Diapers.com and Soap.com, was created by Marc Lore, Jet’s founder. After Amazon bought Quidsi, Lore stayed with the company for two years. Lore’s latest venture is trying to beat Amazon at its own game by offering prices that are 10% to 15% lower by referring users to nearby merchants to save on shipping costs. Shoppers can save another 1.5% by using their debit cards instead of credit cards, but Jet customers must pay a $49.99 annual fee, similar to how Costco operates.