Dive Brief:

• Amazon on Tuesday announced the launch of the Wedding Shop from Handmade at Amazon, which showcases thousands of hand-crafted supplies, home decor, gifts and accessories for engagements, weddings and honeymoon travel — including wedding rings, according to a company press release.

• “The ability to purchase products from local artisans on the Handmade Wedding Shop offers customers a boutique shopping experience coupled with the convenience and selection of Handmade at Amazon," Katie Harnetiaux, who works on Handmade at Amazon, said in a statement

• Many items are eligible for the company’s Prime free two-day shipping benefit, the company said.

Dive Insight:

Amazon's move into the crafty wedding business comes as rival Etsy, which innovated an artisans marketplace 12 years ago but has struggled since its initial public offering two years ago, is increasingly facing investor pressure to turn around.

Handmade at Amazon has been a thorn in Etsy’s side since its launch two years ago. While Etsy struggled with accusations that its marketplace had become replete with counterfeit and mass-produced products, Amazon established a strict hand-made credo from the get-go. Another symbolic blow was crafts maven Martha Stewart passing over Etsy when she left eBay for the Amazon site. Handmade at Amazon has expanded apace, moving into five European countries last fall to take on Etsy overseas.

Amazon, backed up by its wider retail, marketplace and cloud services operations, doesn’t face the same investor pressure over its smaller crafts unit; the e-commerce giant didn't detail results from its crafts sales in its first quarter report, which marked its eighth straight profitable quarter.

Wedding-related products have long been available at both sites, but Amazon on Tuesday said that its Handmade Wedding Shop provides “a one-stop destination for customers to discover a vast selection of customized products for their big day.”