Review of Amazon 4-Star store illustrates the downside of knowing your data

December 21, 2018

The new Amazon 4-Star store in Berkeley, CA is the third to open of the new format that promises to leverage the power of customer preference data to offer a range of discovery items. While the idea of creating a treasure hunt experience is an interesting twist for the e-tailer, the chain could use an experienced merchandiser, according to columnist Sofie Werthan. For example, a table displaying “Top-Selling Around Berkeley” items includes moisturizing cream, a six-outlet surge protector, copies of “White Fragility” by author Robin DiAngelo and Oral-B electric toothbrushes. Writes Ms. Werthan, “The sheer volume of haphazardly arranged objects was way too much to process at once.”

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