Amazon uses tech to reinvigorate traditional retail

Global Business

A coming together of the new and the old. It may be an established brand online but Amazon is opening its doors to New Yorkers for the very first time.

This is now the seventh Amazon Books store to open in the U.S. as the company looks to stand out from the competition.

CGTN’s William Denselow has more on the company’s push into the more traditional brick-and-mortar retail market.
Follow William Denselow on Twitter @willdenze

This may look like a traditional bookstore but there a key few differences. First of all looking at these labels, there is no price tag, instead you need to use a scanner to get that price. What they have instead is a rating system out of five stars based on online reviews. Now this is all part of Amazon’s attempts to blend their online presence with the retail brick-and-mortar experience.

The growing popularity of e-commerce in the United States has provided a major challenge for many retailers. But around 90 percent of retail sales in the country are at brick-and-mortar stores. Amazon said it recognizes that many of their customers enjoy an in-store experience and want to blend that with their technology.

“When you’re checking out you can use your Amazon app, you don’t need to get out your credit card, you can purchase through your phone,” Jennifer Cast, vice president of Amazon Books said. “We use your credit card that’s on Amazon.com and then it’s connected to your Amazon account.”

The company is also rolling out grocery and convenience stores but analysts said they are testing the waters.

“There’s some brand awareness things that Amazon probably wants to get out there and just have a couple of store fronts or a few store fronts in high traffic areas to have the brand resonating more with consumers,” Charlie O’Shea, Lead Retail Analyst for Moody’s Investment Service.

With other companies looking to strengthen their presence online, Amazon hopes the move to physical locations will prove to be a successful chapter in their history.


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