SEATTLE - Custom-made books and DVDs have improved Amazon.com Inc.'s selection without raising inventory costs and are becoming more important to the company's business, founder and Chief Executive Jeff Bezos told shareholders at the company's annual meeting Tuesday.

"As a customer, if you get a product from Amazon, you might never know it was printed yesterday," Bezos said. "I think we'll see more and more products created instantaneously."

Last year, Amazon acquired BookSurge LLC, an on-demand publishing company which has been credited with helping publishers keep books in print cheaply. It's also an inexpensive option for self-publishers.

In April, Amazon's on-demand DVD subsidiary, CustomFlix Labs Inc., signed deals with television networks that could let them sell DVDs of television shows soon after they air. As BookSurge does with books, CustomFlix only creates a DVD when a customer orders it, rather than forcing publishers or movie companies to risk producing thousands of copies that go unsold.

Keeping books, movies and television shows in circulation boosts Amazon's selection, which is one of the cornerstones of the company's business model, Bezos said. Amazon's offerings have increased 42 percent in the past year, and since buying Joyo.com Ltd., China's largest online seller of books, music and videos, for $75 million (euro58.5 million) in 2004, Amazon has boosted that company's selection sevenfold, Bezos said.

Bezos told the shareholders that selection, rapid delivery and low prices are what customers value, and investing in those "will still be paying us dividends 10 years from now."

In that spirit, Amazon last year launched Amazon Prime, a service that gives customers unlimited two-day shipping for $79 (euro61.5) a year.

"Some of our best customers, once they become Amazon Prime members, they start looking elsewhere around the store," Bezos said. "They start to use Amazon for things they never would have used Amazon for in the past. This is an important step forward for us."

Amazon's scale - it expects to do $10 billion (euro7.8 billion) in sales this year - makes the two-day shipping service feasible, Bezos said. With inventory centers around the U.S., Amazon can often rely on ground transportation to fulfill orders, rather than the more expensive air transport.

Between Amazon Prime and Amazon's traditional free shipping on orders worldwide - in the U.S., on any orders over $25 (euro19.5) - the company has forgone $500 million (euro389.5 million) in shipping costs in the past year, all in an effort to attract and keep customers. Amazon had 57 million active customers over the past 12 months, Bezos said.