The Amazon subsidiary also is readying a home furnishings site.

Amazon.com Inc. subsidiary Quidsi will launch e-commerce sites that sell sporting goods and home furnishings, according to a research note today from analysts at investment bank Credit Suisse.

Quidsi, which Amazon bought in 2010, already operates sites dedicated to such products as diapers and baby goods (Diapers.com), beauty and health products (Soap.com), pet supplies (Wag.com) and toys (YoYo.com).

In the note, analysts including Gary Balter and Simeon Gutman write that Quidsi will launch a home furnishings site, Casa.com, and also a sporting goods site whose name has yet to be disclosed. The note bases its prediction about the sporting goods site on job postings from Amazon for a “new sports and activities” vertical.” Amazon’s postings today included various jobs related to sports and outdoor retailing, including product manager and vendor manager. Postings on Quidsi today showed jobs for unspecified future sites as well as sports.

“E-commerce penetration in this category remains relatively low,” the note says. “In our view, that reflects the lack of a good web site, many brands limiting their online distribution for fear of diminishing their image or stepping on the toes of their independent specialty retailers, and retailers’ reliance on GSI [Commerce] over the years. A major specialty effort through Quidsi could change that.”

GSI got its start as an e-commerce platform for sporting goods retailers, and its current clients include such chains as Sports Authority and Dick’s Sporting Goods as well as professional sports leagues like Major League Baseball, NASCAR, the National Football League and National Basketball Association. EBay Inc. bought e-commerce services provider GSI Commerce nearly a year ago.

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Amazon is No. 1 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide. Neither Amazon nor Quidsi offered immediate comment. Amazon on Tuesday is scheduled to report its fourth quarter 2011 financial results.

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