Amazon launches a customer-choice charity program

SEATTLE, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- U.S. retail giant Amazon began a charity program Wednesday on the expectation that customers will respond positively to it, a company executive said.

The program is called AmazonSmile. USA Today reported purchases made on a designated Amazon website -- namely smile.amazon.com -- would have 0.5 percent of the price donated to a charity chosen by the customer.

There are nearly 1 million charities consumers can designate as a recipient of their 0.5 percent, the newspaper said.

Unlike many corporate gift-giving programs, there is no cap on the amount Amazon will donate.

Smile.amazon.com has tens of millions of products available for purchase. Most of what Amazon sells is available through the alternative website, although for now digital items are not on the list -- although they may be added to smile.amazon.com's offerings later, the newspaper reported.

General Manager Ian McAllister said the company put the program together simply because it expected customers would respond positively to the idea.

Any legitimate charity registered with the IRS can sign up to become a recipient. Signing up is available at org.amazon.com, USA Today said.