Consumer Advocacy blog the Consumerist points out that Amazon has started a contest for customers to vote on the deal they want Amazon to offer. Each week Amazon will offer 4 deals and have customers vote on them. You can only vote once and at the end of the contest (Tuesday at 9pm) the contest closes. Whichever deal has the most votes is then offered for sale that Thursday at 11am.

This week’s competition pits an XBOX 36o for a very low $100 against a $30 Mongoose mountain bike, a Barbie doll and a membership for Amazon Prime. Amazon is smart to create the contest; people are much more interested in promotions when they have a stake in their outcome. They also are using a simple feature to spread the word about the contest, a tell a friend button. It would be smart to include a dropdown so you can select which deal you want your friend to vote on, but this contest is nonetheless a great, easily implemented marketing idea that will definitely spur sales.