Amazon Will Open 100 Retail Stores (businessinsider.com)

An anonymous Slashdot reader writes: Amazon plans to open "as many as 100" retail stores in shopping malls by the end of next year, according to Business Insider. The 300- to 500-square-foot stores will sell familiar Amazon hardware products like Kindles and Fire TV, "but the broader goal is to drive more traffic to Amazon's online store, as these devices make it easier to purchase items there" -- and to promote Amazon's Echo personal assistant.

Amazon stores have already quietly opened in 12 states, including six stores in California and more stores in New York, Texas, Virginia, and Massachusetts. But now the brick-and-mortar stores "have emerged from the test phase with a goal to expand and grow," according to one Amazon job posting, and Business Insider reports that new Amazon stores "are popping up almost every week in shopping malls across the country."
The article has pictures of the new Amazon stores, and points out that the company also experienced disappointing results from an earlier experiment with Amazon trucks.

Comments

Biggest effect will be on nearby Best Buys

[AuMatar]

Best Buy is already the place you go to before you buy it cheaper on Amazon. This will kill nearby ones.

Re:Biggest effect will be on nearby Best Buys

[dgatwood]

Talking to another human being for 5 minutes is such an onerous task that you'd rather wait two days for something to show up in the mail?

You left out a bit there. Compare:

• Drive ten or fifteen minutes to the store.
• Find the product you want.
• Check Amazon reviews to make sure it isn't crap using your cell phone clumsily while standing in the relative discomfort of a busy store.
• Notice that it is cheaper on Amazon.
• Spend 5 minutes talking to a salesperson.
• Spend ten or fifteen minutes driving back.

Versus:

• Find the product you want from the comfort of your home.
• Check the Amazon reviews using your laptop in the comfort of your home.
• Verify that it is cheaper at Amazon than local stores using Google.
• Decide whether to bother driving for half an hour, spend five minutes haggling, and still lose 2-4% in credit card rewards just to get it two days sooner.
• Say, "Screw it," and place the order online.