Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is about to prove the old saying that old habits die hard. Having opened its doors 23 years ago as an online bookseller, the e-commerce giant will be opening its first brick-and-mortar bookstore in New York City. The bookstore will be located in a 4,000 square-foot space in the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle. The opening of Amazon’s new store comes at a time when many big retailers are foregoing their physical locations and embracing the online business.
So is the company’s push into physical stores at odds with its origins?
Amazon started out as an online retailer. Hence its data-driven approach to physical retail in Midtown Manhattan was received with mixed reactions. Apparently, reports have it that it will have another six stores in different outlets before the year closes.
While Amazon’s motives on physical stores remain unclear to many, the company aims at redefining the concept of a bestseller. In any case, it has been pushing for expansion in every corner of the publishing industry while creating other niches along the way. All of its books being sold today have gained at least a four-star rating online making it a dominant book retailer.
Meanwhile, many analysts are of the opinion that Amazon is likely to reap big from some of the pain looming in the retail industry.
Amazon’s new features
According to the Codex Group that analyzes the industry, Amazon accounts for almost half of all book sales in the United States. Over time, it has been throwing in new features with the introduction of e-books and self-publishing becoming a boom in 2007 thanks to the Kindle.
The company’s latest feature is Amazon Charts, which is a weekly best-seller list. It is supposed to track the top-selling digital and print books as well as the ones that are being read the most by customers. This will help in giving visibility to books that not appear on other best-seller lists.
The new features are also expected to draw on a vast customer base according to the president of the Codex Group, Peter Hildick-Smith. He also adds, “This is their attempt to push back and says, we’re legitimate.”
Meanwhile, Amazon’s stock closed at $980.35 witnessing an increase of $8.81 or 0.91%.