Amazon used to declare brick-and-mortar dead.
But in the wake of e-commerce tax initiatives and I-want-it-now fulfillment, the e-tail leviathan has done an about face, opening scores of fulfillment centers around the country and its first bookstore in Seattle.
Perhaps even more intriguing are its sporadic forays into pop-up stores. For the past two years the company has been testing the retail waters by literally setting up shop in storefronts and shopping malls, giving us a glimpse of what an Amazon Store might look like.
Field Agent, which sends secret shoppers into the marketplace to collect insights and data, recently directed one of its 650,000-odd operatives to Amazon’s pop-up store in San Francisco’s Westfield Centre mall. The shop showcased Amazon’s proprietary CE products, most of which were presented in live displays.
A live Kindle and Fire tablet display table is watched over by Echo’s Alexa.
The field agent found the kiosk well-stocked and organized, and was particularly impressed by the hands-on demos of the Echo wireless speaker-cum-digital assistant. There was also a table of app-engaged Fire tablets and a wall-mounted flat-panel display where visitors could fire up the over-the-top Fire TV gateway.
The shop also sold Amazon-branded apparel and non-Amazon CE, including headphones and Bluetooth speakers by Bose.
The store also stocks Amazon-branded apparel and non-Amazon CE, and provides Fire TV demos on a large-screen display.
Overall he found the experience enjoyable. See for yourself, below:
Related:Inside Amazon’s New Bookstore
