An Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN) is a 10-character

alphanumeric Alphanumericals or alphanumeric characters are any collection of number characters and letters in a certain language. Sometimes such characters may be mistaken one for the other. Merriam-Webster suggests that the term "alphanumeric" may often ...

unique identifier assigned by Amazon.com and its partners for product identification within the Amazon organization. They were designed in 1996 by Rebecca Allen, an Amazon software engineer, when it became clear that Amazon was going to sell products other than just books. The 10-character format of the ASIN was adopted so that Amazon databases and software, which were designed to expect a 10-character

International Standard Book Number The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier that is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase or receive ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency. A different ISBN is assigned to e ...

(ISBN) field, would not have to be changed to accommodate the new identification format.

Usage and structure

Each product on Amazon.com is given a unique ASIN. For books with a 10-digit

(ISBN), the ASIN and the ISBN are the same. The Kindle edition of a book will not use its ISBN as the ASIN, although the electronic version of a book may have its own ISBN. The ASIN forms part of the URL of a product detail page on Amazon's website.

References

{{Amazon Internet properties established in 1996 Amazon (company) Book terminology Identifiers