Bill Emerson

Rumor Mill: The Amazon Store is Coming

February 9, 2012

FROM RETAILWIRE:
A report last weekend by Good EReader said that Amazon, similar to its Quidsi division, was tinkering with the idea of opening a small store in Seattle to show off items such as its various Kindle models and a widely anticipated Android smartphone line. Do you think it makes sense for Amazon to open physical stores?      [more...]

Not to belabor the obvious, but Apple and Amazon are two different brands.

Apple stores extend a tightly integrated group of products and capabilities into an environment that reinforces the brand (Think Different).

At Amazon, the products themselves are almost secondary. The brand's strengths are access to what increasingly seems like every product on the planet, ease of shopping, and efficient delivery. How do you represent this assortment in 4 walls? More importantly, why would you try?

My guess is that this will be short-lived. Then again, everybody thought Apple was crazy to open stores. That worked out pretty well.