Amazon physical store? -- COMBINED thread

[S.A. Mulraney]

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/politics/Amazon-to-Open-Stores-Report-138793179.html

"Amazon is reportedly eying a location in Seattle to open a brick-and-mortar store within the next few months to sell exclusive books, e-readers and tablets."

Sounds good to me, especially if it creates another potential venue for books.

[Sean Patrick Fox]

This seems to really go against the grain for Amazon. The online-only store has been a fantastic business model for them, and I'm very surprised to see them opening up any sort of B&M establishment. That being said, I suspect if they follow through with this idea they'll stick to flagship stores in major cities rather than opening up stores all over a la Borders or Barnes & Noble.

[Decon]

If it works maybe they can buy out B&N. Then they'll have it all to themselves and give their author contracted books prominence over the other publishers.

[Pearson Moore]

Fascinating.  But I'm not surprised.  B&N has become Nook Emporium; Amazon has to bring the battle to their enemy, and that means stores in the local neighbourhood.  These are exciting times with an entirely unknown outcome:  a real-life drama unfolding before us.

[meromana]

Very interesting...I think we'll all be anxious to see how this turns out...

--Maria

[jackz4000]

Article seems to be more of a rumor, though putting flagship store in say 12 major cities might work.


Read this article this AM which seems to dismiss Amazon opening brick and mortars. The last third  is Amz.

http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/06/technology/thebuzz/index.htm?source=cnn_bin

[Decon]

Article seems to be more of a rumor, though putting flagship store in say 12 major cities might work.


Read this article this AM which seems to dismiss Amazon opening brick and mortars. The last third  is Amz.

http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/06/technology/thebuzz/index.htm?source=cnn_bin

It's off the mark about sales tax. Amazon have signed agreements in place for Calif'a which start later this year.

[S.A. Mulraney]

Article seems to be more of a rumor, though putting flagship store in say 12 major cities might work.


Read this article this AM which seems to dismiss Amazon opening brick and mortars. The last third  is Amz.

http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/06/technology/thebuzz/index.htm?source=cnn_bin

Some don't think it's a good idea, but the comments do nothing to dismiss the idea. I'd be surprised if they didn't give it a try.

[Bards and Sages (Julie)]

I get the impression it has more to do with skirting the "internet retailer" rule than selling books.  If the verbiage of the CA bill specifically targets "internet only" businesses, opening a token physical store would give Amazon an out. 

[S.A. Mulraney]

I just wonder what incentive folks would have to shop in-store as opposed to online.

[jackz4000]

I just wonder what incentive folks would have to shop in-store as opposed to online.

Here's one take:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikaandersen/2012/02/06/why-amazon-might-go-retro/

[Feenix]

Hey there!

Will the Amazon brick-n-mortar store be like BN? With a coffee shop? What might that store have that BN, etc. don't already have and are struggling to keep stores open?

Dave King

[KayBratt]

What might that store have that BN, etc. don't already have and are struggling to keep stores open? Dave King

Indie books!
 

[tbrookside]

This is just their warning to B&N and to the publishers.

As Amazon starts working with authors directly as a publisher and not just as a platform provider, they have to be worried that the publishers and B&N might close ranks against them. 

This is Amazon saying, "We can be publisher, distributor, AND STORE - for print as well as for ebooks."

The publishers will start howling about this any moment now.

[Rosen Trevithick]

Well, the more places to buy books, the better, but I do feel sorry for the small, independent books store that had to close because of the rise on the internet.

[Asher MacDonald]

I suspect it's to be more like Apple's stores than a B&N bookstore. The Kindle Fire is the gateway to Amazon Prime, and Amazon Prime makes money for Amazon.

There's also a rumor Amazon is working on their own branded smartphone. These storefronts would be a good place to sell those as well.

If Amazon wants to go big box with stores, I suspect they will look more like Best Buy than anything else. They will be a showplace for the high ticket items you can buy from Amazon. Come in, try something out, punch in your order and it arrives at your door two days later.

[William Peter Grasso]

My first thought was What? Amazon's going to give something else away at a loss?

I think it would only make sense if it really was just an internet sales tax dodge. While I'd love to see a book store stocking indie authors, I'm not sure that would be much of an incentive for people to walk through the door. 

WPG

[Bards and Sages (Julie)]

Indie books!
 

Amazon can be indie friendly now because it doesn't cost them anything to do so.  They don't pay anything to "stock" Kindle books.  And even with most indie print titles they are POD so they aren't stocking physical books either.

But I wouldn't be so quick to assume they would be an indie friendly BOOKSTORE because that would require them buying books to have in stock.  That would mean then buying POD titles knowing most of them are non-returnable. 

Unless it was on some sort of a "consignment" basis where they "Invite" authors to give them books up front and then only pay if the book is sold. 

[Krista D. Ball]

Amazon can be indie friendly now because it doesn't cost them anything to do so.  They don't pay anything to "stock" Kindle books.  And even with most indie print titles they are POD so they aren't stocking physical books either.

But I wouldn't be so quick to assume they would be an indie friendly BOOKSTORE because that would require them buying books to have in stock.  That would mean then buying POD titles knowing most of them are non-returnable. 

Unless it was on some sort of a "consignment" basis where they "Invite" authors to give them books up front and then only pay if the book is sold. 

Yup, this is more realistic. There seems to be a certain expectation of quality for books in a bookstore, while folks tend to still be a little looser with ebooks. You see it a lot with the "good for 99 cents, but wouldn't have paid more" kinds of reviews.

With the low level of quality many indie books have (sorry folks, you know it's true), it would destroy Amazon's reputation and financial bottom line to open a store of unvetted books. Now, Amazon can vet the indie books. That would be ok. Or, do consignment opportunities for authors who approach them for signings. But overall, you'll just see the typical NY covers and the Amazon imprint covers of books no one else will sell.

[Dallas Haley]

The Amazon store will have no brick or mortar making up the entire building. It will either be all metal or all glass to keep with the rumor they don't like brick and mortar stores.

[Feenix]

The Amazon store will have no brick or mortar making up the entire building. It will either be all metal or all glass to keep with the rumor they don't like brick and mortar stores.

Ha! Hilarious! I can picture that first Amazon store fortified with bullet-proof, but oh-so-elegant, smoked glass! 

Dave King

[David Wisehart]

What will this do to the hugely wasteful system of bookstore returns?

Publishers print many more books than they can sell because of returns. This is an inefficient system ripe for disruption by a smart upstart.

When publishers have to print two physical copies for every copy sold, that cuts into margins and raises the price of books. If Amazon can manage returns (to itself) better than current physical distribution systems, they can lower book prices and/or increase margins.

Just a thought.

David

[KayBratt]

Amazon can be indie friendly now because it doesn't cost them anything to do so.  They don't pay anything to "stock" Kindle books.  And even with most indie print titles they are POD so they aren't stocking physical books either.

But I wouldn't be so quick to assume they would be an indie friendly BOOKSTORE because that would require them buying books to have in stock.  That would mean then buying POD titles knowing most of them are non-returnable. 

Unless it was on some sort of a "consignment" basis where they "Invite" authors to give them books up front and then only pay if the book is sold. 

I agree, Julie. I was thinking more along the lines of only best selling Indie books. I think they would have to pass some sort of sales milestones. (paid sales, not free)

[NathanWrann]

I agree, Julie. I was thinking more along the lines of only best selling Indie books. I think they would have to pass some sort of sales milestones. (paid sales, not free)

I hate to burst your bubble but Amazon doesn't care about "indies".

Given the choice between stocking a whole bookshelf with $25 James Patterson hardcovers that pulls in a decent profit, plus placement dollars and a lot of advertising dollars that get people into the store or a whole bookshelf full of authors that nobody ever heard about (unless Amanda Hocking or John Locke are represented. She was on Anderson Cooper after all) for a measly $9.99 that brings in $2 above wholesale per book sold, with no advertising and no word of mouth behind it (a "best seller" on-line in e-books does not create real world buzz (except for AH and JL). I guarantee Amazon will go the James Patterson route.

There are two ways to make money. Sell a lot for a little or sell a little for a lot. I would bet that for Amazon right now "The Big Six" are selling a lot for a lot. Amazon would much rather sell millions of "Big Six" books and e-books at $9.99 - $25.00 than hundreds of thousands? of "indie" e-books at .99-4.99.

I like the example of John Locke. He sold 1 million e-books at .99. That brought in $650,000 for Amazon. That means virtually nothing to a $17.4 billion company. Although I'm sure they appreciated the publicity he generated. Amazon wants to sell brand name books (preferably under their own imprint label) for brand name prices. They open the doors to us and we throw some pennies their way.

Amazon doesn't care about indies. And why should they?  

[Ann in Arlington]

Since we're all wildly speculating because none of us really KNOWS anything

I like the "no brick or mortar" idea for the building. . .and I'd guess that they'd feature their reading devices and possible have the apps available on various demo devices as well.  I'd anticipate accessories being available as well.  You could buy gift cards to give.  And there'd be public terminals available for browsing the eBook store and ordering titles.  And, of course, personal technical assistance.  Oh, and refurbished units available as well as "Amazon basics" items.

They wouldn't need to stock actual physical books except as samples. . .they could sell them as 'print on demand'.  This would, of course, limit what they sold in paper as not all publishers will go with that. . .but independent authors could, certainly, and there is at least one major publisher that has put a book printing machine in a bookstore in this area.  You go in and say you want to buy a given book. . .they charge you and then in a half hour (maybe less) it's printed and bound.