By George Anderson
Amazon.com and Target have extended their agreement for Amazon to provide order fulfillment and customer service for Target's online businesses including Target.com, MarshallFields.com and Mervyns.com until August 2008.
Jerry Storch, vice chairman, Target said the retailer's online sales were up significantly during the first half of 2003.
Mark Stabingas of Amazon Services, a subsidiary of Amazon.com that provides Web site technology and services for retailers, told Reuters the Target deal was "a validation of how strong the e-commerce platform that we have is."
Moderator's Comment: How important is Amazon Services to Amazon.com's future growth prospects?
Amazon reports it spends more than $200 million every year maintaining and improving its technology. [George Anderson - Moderator]