SEOUL, South Korea -- The Internet bookseller Amazon.com signed a deal with Samsung Corp. Wednesday to sell books in South Korea without charging high shipping costs, Samsung officials said.
The contract allows the Seattle-based Amazon.com to use Samsung's Internet shopping mall web site to sell its books, music and other wares in South Korea, beginning Thursday.Until now, South Koreans had had to pay shipping charges to buy Amazon.com books, which are shipped individually from the United States.
Under its deal with Samsung, Amazon.com will ship books in large quantities to South Korea, eliminating most of the shipping costs that individual shoppers must pay, Samsung officials said.
Shipping costs have been a hurdle for Amazon.com's efforts to expand sales in South Korea and other countries.