Online shoppers will soon be able to buy toothpaste and deodorant at the same time as books after a deal announced yesterday by Amazon.com, the internet bookseller.
Drugstore.com, which is the market leader for online pharmaceuticals in the United States, will become the first separate company to be prominently displayed on Amazon's home page.
Drugstore.com - which was established in 1998 and floated on the stock market last year - is to pay Amazon $105m (£63.6m) over the next three years for this access to the Seattle-based company's some 1.6m customers.
In return Amazon, which already owns 27% of the drugs company, is to buy another $30m worth of shares, bringing its total investment to 28%.
Jeff Bezos, Amazon's founder and chief executive, said yesterday: "We're working to make Amazon.com the only place where you can find anything and everything you might want to buy online."
Bill Curry, a spokesman for Amazon, said that the deal was likely to be the first of many. "We expect more arrangements like this when it makes sense for our customers."
Amazon has been busily buying stakes in online groups over the past two years as it diversifies away from online bookselling. As well as its stake in Drugstore.com, it has invested in Pets.com, the online pet shop, and Gear.com, the discount sports retailer.
On Friday, it announced a stake in Greenlight.com, an online car retailer. The group also offers customers access to an auction site. Online drug selling is becoming a highly competitive market as new companies fight for a share of the $155bn retail drugstore market in the US.
As well as selling a range of health and beauty products and prescription drugs, Drugstore.com sends refill reminders via e-mail and offers detailed information about drugs and health issues.
Pharmacists are available for e-mail consultation for questions which might be embarrassing to ask over the counter.
Other Drugstore investors include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the venture capital group, and Rite Aid, the struggling offline drugs group which also has a delivery agreement with Drugstore.
