In high school, Amar Khubani began selling items online through multiple eCommerce channels. He quickly learned the ropes of online selling and founded Before the Stores in 2008 as a sophomore in college. Choosing to sell As Seen on TV items, Before the Stores’ mission is simple – to provide high–demand products that aren’t yet available in brick and mortar retail stores to Amazon.com customers. While other students were watching sitcom reruns between classes, Khubani was not only selling online, but conducting market research to help the companies that manufacture As Seen on TV products effectively market their wares.

Khubani began selling items that his peers were interested in, such as Iron GymsTM, before gradually offering more and more As Seen on TV items. “The high exposure these products receive on TV drives consumers to search for the product online, often on Amazon.com, meaning the products become extremely hot sellers,” says Khubani. “Amazon has over 93 million customers, many of which are loyal Amazon.com shoppers. Selling on Amazon has allowed us to offer our products to a whole new set of customers who otherwise may not have purchased them,” adds Khubani. The combined power of Selling on Amazon and Fulfillment by Amazon enable Before the Stores to push these high–demand products out in large volumes. In 2009, FBA shipped approximately 1,500 Iron Gym workout bars per week during Q4.

Before the Stores has used the Amazon Services bundle to strengthen many aspects of its business, including fulfillment and shipping, reaching a large customer base for both sales and research, and ease behind the scenes. Anthony Chichelo, Head of Operations of Before the Stores, says adding items to their WebStore couldn’t be easier. He finds listing new items takes only a few minutes and the product will show up for the consumer within 20 minutes, making the process quick and easy.

Before the Stores has been able to amplify their success by tapping in to their Amazon customer base to conduct market research. Using e-mail surveys and the sales analytics provided by Amazon Services, Khubani has increased the margins of his business by not only providing high-demand products for his customers, but also by providing the vendors with the background information they need to properly market their products.