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Old 09-26-2018, 09:57 PM   #1
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Amazon 4-Star: Books, ereaders, and a whole lot more

From CNET:

https://www.cnet.com/news/amazon-unv...amazon-4-star/

For those that think AmazonBooks is too small, a different B&M format:

Quote:

On Wednesday, the company introduced Amazon 4-star, a physical store in New York's SoHo neighborhood that includes products that're rated 4 stars and above, are top sellers, or are new and trending on Amazon's website. The new location will include devices, consumer electronics, kitchen wares, home products, toys, books and games. Digital price tags at the store will show both list prices and reduced prices for Prime members. Amazon 4-star opens to the public Thursday.

From Business Insider:

https://www.businessinsider.com/amaz...-4-star-2018-9

Quote:

Though it opens just in time for the holiday season, the store is not a holiday pop-up — it's meant to be a permanent fixture in the neighborhood, which has seen plenty of other online-only brands open stores in recent years.
Amazon's own hype:

https://blog.aboutamazon.com/shopping/amazon-4-star

Quote:

We started with some of the most popular categories on Amazon.com including devices, consumer electronics, kitchen, home, toys, books, and games, and chose only the products that customers have rated 4 stars and above, or are top sellers, or are new and trending.

Today, the average rating of all the products in Amazon 4-star is 4.4 stars, and collectively, the products in store have earned more than 1.8 million 5-star customer reviews.

Throughout the store there are features like “Most-Wished-For,” a collection of products that are most added to Amazon.com Wish Lists; “Trending Around NYC,” hot products that NYC-area customers are buying on Amazon.com; “Frequently Bought Together”; and “Amazon Exclusives.” These features, along with customer review cards with quotes from actual customer reviews, make it fun and easy to shop.

Customers will find products like the card game Codenames (4.8 stars, with more than 2,000 customer reviews), which 88% of reviewers rated 5 stars, and a Lodge 3.5 Inch Cast Iron Mini Skillet (4.4 stars, with more than 10,900 customer reviews), which 76% of reviewers rated 5 stars. Of course, Amazon 4-star shoppers can also find Amazon devices like the Echo Spot (4.5 stars, with more than 5,600 customer reviews), and the Fire TV Stick (4.4 stars, with more than 197,000 customer reviews). Customers can test-drive dozens of Amazon devices and smart home accessories that work with Alexa, and shop a curated selection of speakers, fitness tech, and other highly rated consumer electronics.
Bolds mine: the list looks suspiciously like Indigo's mix...plus a bit more.

A preemptive strike?

More at the sources.

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Old 09-27-2018, 08:14 PM   #2
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Bolds mine: the list looks suspiciously like Indigo's mix...plus a bit more.

A preemptive strike?

More at the sources.
A strike? Maybe. Timing is crucial. OTOH, the 4star is a store that cannot fail. It is very possible that Amazon was planning it a long long time just waiting for some competition to make a move.

Edit: All these store concepts makes you wonder. If they all work out individually, maybe the goal is not individual stores. How about a Amazon Mall. Add in a Amazon Hotel and Amazon Theme Park, and you got the Amazon Whole Family Shopping Spree Vacation Center. Don't laugh, it could work ...

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Old 09-27-2018, 09:18 PM   #3
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A strike? Maybe. Timing is crucial. OTOH, the 4star is a store that cannot fail. It is very possible that Amazon was planning it a long long time just waiting for some competition to make a move.

Edit: All these store concepts makes you wonder. If they all work out individually, maybe the goal is not individual stores. How about a Amazon Mall. Add in a Amazon Hotel and Amazon Theme Park, and you got the Amazon Whole Family Shopping Spree Vacation Center. Don't laugh, it could work ...
With Amazon it's not safe to laugh at anything.
With their data hoard they could launch a thousand stores, each with a different format tailored to the specific zip code.
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Old 09-28-2018, 09:04 AM   #4
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A strike? Maybe. Timing is crucial. OTOH, the 4star is a store that cannot fail. It is very possible that Amazon was planning it a long long time just waiting for some competition to make a move.

Edit: All these store concepts makes you wonder. If they all work out individually, maybe the goal is not individual stores. How about a Amazon Mall. Add in a Amazon Hotel and Amazon Theme Park, and you got the Amazon Whole Family Shopping Spree Vacation Center. Don't laugh, it could work ...
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Old 09-28-2018, 11:45 AM   #5
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Edit: All these store concepts makes you wonder. If they all work out individually, maybe the goal is not individual stores. How about a Amazon Mall. Add in a Amazon Hotel and Amazon Theme Park, and you got the Amazon Whole Family Shopping Spree Vacation Center. Don't laugh, it could work ...
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Old 09-28-2018, 12:41 PM   #6
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Cnet follow-up:

https://www.cnet.com/news/a-visit-to...-in-manhattan/

Quote:

The premise for the 4,000-square-foot store is pretty simple: All the roughly 2,000 products stocking the shelves are rated four stars or higher, are top sellers, or are new and trending on Amazon's website.

The store seems half bookstore and half Kmart, with a busy mix of electronics, toys, baby products, books and small kitchen appliances. There's also a healthy dose throughout of Amazon's own devices, including Fire tablets, Echo speakers and Ring smart-home gadgets. The place feels much like an Amazon Books bookstore, but with a broader assortment of stuff.
They added a slideshow, too:

https://www.cnet.com/pictures/amazon...-store-in-nyc/

Looks somewhat like a cross between Indigo and peak Sharper Image.
Definitely a gift shop more than a dept store.
Maybe it'll boost pbook gifting for the holidays.

More at the source.
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Old 09-28-2018, 07:33 PM   #7
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With Amazon it's not safe to laugh at anything.
Not even Whole Foods?
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Old 09-28-2018, 08:13 PM   #8
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Not even Whole Foods?
They make money at Whole Paycheck.
Not all supermarkets do.
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Old 09-29-2018, 09:45 AM   #9
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Looks somewhat like a cross between Indigo and peak Sharper Image.
Definitely a gift shop more than a dept store.
Maybe it'll boost pbook gifting for the holidays.
When it comes to gift shopping it is hard enough sometimes to simply pick a suitable item, let alone the right brand. Anyone with nieces, nephews, and grandkids knows the dilemma. I welcome the age specific gift idea areas in the 4-Star. That should be incorporated easier to find on the webpage as well. I do hope it is not based on manufacturer recommended age groups, but real age groups.

I am not sure how a suitable B&M department Amazon store would have to look like that gives a better experience than a Walmart does. What I find lacking at Walmart is no detailed specs and a limited variety of alternatives. Maybe the 4-Star is close depending on how closely and good it ties in with the online version. I want to be able to easily scan an item, have it pop up and give me all information including all products it competes against.
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Old 09-29-2018, 11:44 AM   #10
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When it comes to gift shopping it is hard enough sometimes to simply pick a suitable item, let alone the right brand. Anyone with nieces, nephews, and grandkids knows the dilemma. I welcome the age specific gift idea areas in the 4-Star. That should be incorporated easier to find on the webpage as well. I do hope it is not based on manufacturer recommended age groups, but real age groups.

I am not sure how a suitable B&M department Amazon store would have to look like that gives a better experience than a Walmart does. What I find lacking at Walmart is no detailed specs and a limited variety of alternatives. Maybe the 4-Star is close depending on how closely and good it ties in with the online version. I want to be able to easily scan an item, have it pop up and give me all information including all products it competes against.
With Amazon you really don't know what they're likely to do or not--they might go and buy Tesla outright tomorrow. But I think at B&M they're a bit more likely to keep cherry picking upscale consumers that aren't necessarily impressed by online pricing than going toe to toe with Walmart or Target.

So if (when?) they did/do a dept store their, ahem, target would more likely be Nordstroms or Macy's. And for that they would want to perfect their fashion adviser and virtual dressing room tech first. Which may be anywhere from months to years away. The store itself I suspect would be heavy on full size screens and light on stock. If I recall correctly, they do have a patent for a laser-driven "tailoring on demand" system so they have been thinking in that science fiction-y direction.

Unlike many of their competitors, those folks understand and embrace the fact that it's the 21st century out there. More future shock incoming.

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Old 09-29-2018, 02:40 PM   #11
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@fjtorres: only targeting "high end" customers is not going to work long term. The first and last article you linked mentions only 10% of retail being carried out online, almost half of that by Amazon. There is a big potential for Amazon to expand when they currently only hold about 5% of total retail. Not going up as direct competition to Walmart is short sighted. I am not saying that Amazon needs to duplicate Walmart, but they do need to make a grab at the very same customers that go to Walmart.

The future will be a hybrid store that has a seamless integration of physical store and online.
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Old 09-29-2018, 03:49 PM   #12
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@fjtorres: only targeting "high end" customers is not going to work long term.
I'm not saying they will be cherry picking forever. But as a ramp up strategy, building up their B&M presence and Prime subscriber base off affluent customers is an effective (and profitable) way to grow their footprint.

Online isn't going to be just 10% forever so over-investing in B&M because it is 90% today isn't a good long term strategy. Maximizing presence isn't the only strategy to success. Remember that the so-called retail apocalypse isn't about online as much as it is about over-expansion. Most of the roadkill died because they had more outlets than the market will bear. Amazon's B&M footprint will probably end up closer to Apple's than Walmart or Radio Shack's.

Also, don't forget there is more to Amazon than retail.
There are more profitable businesses to invest in than retail. I was only half joking about Tesla. Home automation is one area Amazon is targeting that can deliver much bigger profits than retail.

For all we know those stores are meant to be self-sustaining showrooms for future product lines, with books and gifts just traffic generators.

Like I said, they're tricky and their moves aren't always what they appear to be. Think of the Echo introduction and what it turned out to be: a trojan horse to backdoor into home automation. And home automation might be a backdoor for home robotics.

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Old 09-29-2018, 05:11 PM   #13
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Unlike many of their competitors, those folks understand and embrace the fact that it's the 21st century out there. More future shock incoming.
If you say so. I think it's telling that one of the high growth sectors in business is for dollar stores and pay-day loans. Catering to the high-end may have a short shelf life.

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Old 09-30-2018, 07:38 AM   #14
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If you say so. I think it's telling that one of the high growth sectors in business is for dollar stores and pay-day loans. Catering to the high-end may have a short shelf life.
Do you have any evidence of growth in payday loans? I am perceiving quite the opposite. It is possible that it really depends on the state you live in.

I live in Ohio, so this applies directly to me: Payday lenders reaping what they have sowed. From what I have perceived, anecdotally and from personal experience, is that traditional payday lending was doomed. Not proud about it, but I was trapped myself. Once the 2008 bill passed into effectiveness I stiffed every single one of the open loans I had and made them bounce into an account that was by then overdrawn. It is possible that that was done maliciously and on purpose by me, but not sure now, it has been a while.

Best financial decision ever for me.
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Old 09-30-2018, 10:32 AM   #15
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I'm not saying they will be cherry picking forever. But as a ramp up strategy, building up their B&M presence and Prime subscriber base off affluent customers is an effective (and profitable) way to grow their footprint.

Online isn't going to be just 10% forever so over-investing in B&M because it is 90% today isn't a good long term strategy. Maximizing presence isn't the only strategy to success. Remember that the so-called retail apocalypse isn't about online as much as it is about over-expansion. Most of the roadkill died because they had more outlets than the market will bear. Amazon's B&M footprint will probably end up closer to Apple's than Walmart or Radio Shack's.

Also, don't forget there is more to Amazon than retail.
There are more profitable businesses to invest in than retail. I was only half joking about Tesla. Home automation is one area Amazon is targeting that can deliver much bigger profits than retail.

For all we know those stores are meant to be self-sustaining showrooms for future product lines, with books and gifts just traffic generators.

Like I said, they're tricky and their moves aren't always what they appear to be. Think of the Echo introduction and what it turned out to be: a trojan horse to backdoor into home automation. And home automation might be a backdoor for home robotics.
I can see the Amazon B&M stores being a logical offshoot of their same day delivery business. Apple is already experimenting with same day delivery from their various stores. I purchased an iPad Pro last spring on line from my local Apple store and had it delivered that afternoon. Really handy when I'm working from home.

A lot of people like the shopping experience. While Amazon's niche is online ordering, I can see them being quite successful with a B&M store, with stores like Whole Food, they can leverage a lot of expertise, assuming the bean counters don't mess up the shopping experience by trying to squeeze the pennies. I went by Whole Food last weekend to pick up some food for the family cookout. Nice experience and the guy running the cash register pointed out that since I was a prime member, I could save some money. People joke about calling Whole Food, Whole Paycheck, but Whole Food gets the customer experience idea. They have people who act like they want to be there. That's why the parking lot is usually crowded and the stores are packed.

I don't see them successfully competing using the Walmart or Dollar Store model.

Last edited by pwalker8; 09-30-2018 at 10:38 AM.
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For a student with a lot of text books... ennova Which one should I buy? 1 08-24-2010 02:03 PM


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