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It’s clicks meet bricks in the brave new world of Amazon.com. Reports have it that Jeff Bezos and company plan to open more of their Amazon Books locations as well as more drive-up grocery stores.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, Mr. Bezos told a small group at the company’s annual shareholders meeting this week that plans are in the works to open an unspecified number of additional Amazon Books locations.
“We’re definitely going to open additional stores, how many we don’t know yet,” Mr. Bezos was quoted as saying by the Journal. “In these early days it’s all about learning, rather than trying to earn a lot of revenue.”
Amazon Books, which opened its first location in Seattle last November and is preparing to open a second in the San Diego area, has proven popular with consumers. According to research done by secret shoppers for Field Agent, shoppers at the Seattle location prefer getting their books at Amazon Books over Amazon’s own website and Barnes & Noble.
According to Silicon Valley Business Journal reporter Nathan Donato-Weinstein, who first reported last July on plans by Amazon to open an 11,600-square-foot drive-up grocery store in Sunnyvale, CA, the company is working on a second identical concept store in San Carlos on the Monterey Peninsula.
Whether a test or part of a plan for a larger rollout, it appears based on initial details that Amazon wants part of the BOPIS (buy online, pickup in-store) market, which fits with its strategy of offering delivery options that meet the varied needs of its customers.
- Amazon Plans More Stores, Bulked-Up Prime Services – The Wall Street Journal (sub. required)
- Exclusive: Amazon planning second drive-up grocery store, this time on the Peninsula – Silicon Valley Business Journal
- Amazon Books is better than Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble – RetailWire
Photo: Amazon