????亞馬遜（Amazon.com）不再僅僅是一個可以在線購買圖書、音樂或其他流水線上生產出來的產品的網站。

????周一，亞馬遜宣布，消費者現在可以定制200種不同的3D打印產品，如搖頭娃娃、微型塑料劍和寵物名牌等。這項技術使消費者可以自定義自己的訂單，不再局限于網站現售的商品。比如說，你可以根據家人和朋友的形象，訂制搖頭娃娃。

????亞馬遜市場銷售總監皮特拉?辛德勒-卡特在一份聲明中表示：“推出3D打印產品商店，意味著在線零售開始一項重大轉變——在生產過程可以更敏捷地提供浸入式客戶體驗。”

????亞馬遜本身不負責打印。這項工作由專門出售塑料3D打印裝飾品的公司Mixee Labs完成。雙方合作推出的產品并不便宜。一個3D打印的搖頭娃娃價格為30美元，而流水線生產的同類產品價格約為12美元。

????此外，希望能迅速收到商品的消費者可能要失望了。通過亞馬遜訂購的3D打印產品，需要十個工作日才能送達。

????市場研究公司Canalys的資深分析師蒂姆?謝佛德長期關注3D打印行業。他表示，在亞馬遜與Mixee開始合作之前，有許多公司早已開始向大眾出售3D打印產品，例如3D打印機制造商MakerBot和3D打印公司Shapeways等。但亞馬遜品牌和強大的影響力，使其成為該利基市場的一支直接推動力量。

????謝佛德說道：“亞馬遜是在線零售行業巨頭。它打開了進入大眾市場的渠道。”

????他說，總體而言，3D打印在消費者零售市場有巨大的潛力。在汽車制造等工業設計領域，3D打印早已得到廣泛應用，3D打印機可以用于制作零件模具。

????“從價值上來說，3D打印市場長期以來很大程度上是由企業驅動的——公司利用這一技術來制作工業模型或建筑模型”。

????通過推出3D打印產品，亞馬遜讓更多人看到了這項技術的廣闊用途。但由于消費者看不到打印過程，因此3D打印產品的新奇性也會大打折扣。

????謝佛德說：“人們希望看到一件作品的創作過程，但亞馬遜的模式無法滿足消費者的這種好奇心。”不過，他補充道：“亞馬遜會讓人們對3D打印技術更加興奮，”可能會鼓勵人們購買3D打印機，在自己的車庫里使用。

????那么，對于美國如雨后春筍般出現的小型3D打印店，亞馬遜的舉措又意味著什么？謝佛德預測，亞馬遜的新舉措不會產生與當初淘汰小型書店一樣的影響。“我認為它不會帶來任何負面的影響。”（財富中文網）

????翻譯：劉進龍/汪皓

????Amazon.com isn’t just a place to get books, music and other products that roll off assembly lines or stream online.

????Amazon said Monday that online shoppers will now be able to buy 3D printed products on-demand from a list of 200 different items like bobblehead dolls, miniature plastic swords and pet ID tags. The technology lets people customize their orders beyond what has been previously been possible on the online retailing site including bobbleheads made to look like family and friends.

????“The introduction of our 3D Printed Products store suggests the beginnings of a shift in online retail – that manufacturing can be more nimble to provide an immersive customer experience,” Petra Schindler-Carter, director for Amazon’s marketplace sales, said in a statement.

????Amazon doesn’t actually handle the printing. Rather, it’s done by Mixee Labs, a company specialized in selling plastic 3D printed nicknacks. Products available through the partnership aren’t cheap. A 3D printed bobblehead costs $30 compared with versions made on an assembly line that cost around $12.

????Moreover, anyone who wants speedy shipping is out of luck. Orders through Amazon for 3D products can take up to ten business days to fill.

????Amazon’s partnership with Mixee comes long after other businesses like MakerBot and Shapeways have started selling 3D printed products to the public, according to Tim Shepherd, senior analyst at Canalys who is focused on the 3D printing industry. But Amazon’s big name and reach makes it an immediate force in the niche.

????“Amazon is a huge name in online retail,” Shepherd said. “It opens the channels to a mass market.”

????In general, there’s big potential for 3D printing in the consumer and retail space, he said. It’s already commonplace in industrial design including in auto making, in which 3D printers are used to make molds for parts.

????“Most of the market, in value terms, has been driven by the enterprise space to create industrial models, printing models for architecture,” Shepherd said.

????By introducing 3D printing, Amazon is letting more people see what the technology can do. But because customers can’t see the printing in action, some of the novelty is lost.

????“There is this feeling of watching something get created, and this isn’t going to provide that in the same way,” Shepherd said. But he added that “it’s going to get people more excited” and potentially encourage them to buy and 3D printer to use in their own garage.

????And how about those small 3D printing shops cropping up around the U.S.? Amazon’s move won’t likely have the same impact that it has had in pushing out small book shops, Shepherd predicted. “I don’t think it’s going to have a negative impact at all.”