Amazon launched its bookstore in New York
Amazonbooks
Concept
A lot of internet pure players are opening shops in order to keep and magnify contact with their clients. Amazon, for example, has just opened its first New York store, and 7th in the USA. 3000 works are exposed in this shop, which is quite small compared to the size of its competitors stores like Barnes and Noble. A shop is just like the website : simple and practical.
At Amazon bookstore, you can find a large amount of books, and of course, the whole range of gadgets sold by Amazon : Echo, Kindle, Kindle Fire for kids and Fire TV. This store is essentially dedicated to cultural and recreational activities.
The store is also the new promotional tool for Amazon Prime, indeed, subscribers get lots of advantages.
It is very interesting to note that in Amazon’s case, this opening creates a real buzz as people are queueing to get into the store…
Why visiting the store ?
The Design
The first thing that catches your eye when entering the store is all of the books on shelves in a way that we can see the covers. Just like on the Amazon website, the first thing seen of the book is its cover.
The store is small compared to its competitors : not much space to sit, no coffee shop. Its also a way for Amazon to avoid have too many curious people sitting and reading with out making a purchase.
Offline & Online
The connection between Online/Offline is very much present in the store. If you’d like to read a couple of pages from a book in the store, just use the Kindles at disposal in each aisle allowing customers to « flick through » pages of their choice.
You’d like to know more about the book ? Use the Amazon app on your smartphone to scan the books barcode and discover client comments and feedback, even if this isn’t clearly stated in store (see next slide). Children can also play on the kids tablets and discover the choice of games and books that are at their disposal.
Different categories
The store is bursting with different categories throughout the different aisles. Just like on the Amazon web site, you can find categories linked to the Kindle, to books « liked by those who have read », even a category titled « books with more than 10 000 reviews on Amazon.Com ».
Amazon is well known for user comments and reviews. These comments can be found and read under each book, allowing you to grasp the storyline. Amazon doesn’t communicate on how they chose these comments (it’s not the best rated comments that are shown).
Prices
No prices are shown in store. In order to know how much something costs, you need to scan the book that you are interested in using the different scanners around the shop. Being an Amazon Prime member gives you a lot of advantages.
Why are there no prices ? Amazon is known for changing its prices online depending on demand and stock. Prices in store must be the same as the ones online. Not showing prices is an ideal solution for avoiding online price comparisons in store using smartphones.
Payment
In the store you can pay using cards, cash or via your Amazon mobile app. When you get to the checkout, tablets are available to explain how to pay with your Amazon account. All you need to do is scan the Qr code at the checkout using your Amazon app, and then show the code that appears to the cashier, who will scan this code, enabling payment through your Amazon account. If you have gift cards or vouchers on the account you can of course, use them as well.
Debriefing Amazon Bookstore
The store visit with photos
