Amazon Books Ending

Fbone · 03-02-2022, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Amazon is shutting down all its Amazon Books physical bookstores, as well as its Amazon 4-star and Amazon Pop Up stores, which sold a variety of electronics and other hot items.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/02/amaz...-up-shops.html

tomsem · 03-02-2022, 06:29 PM

Makes sense. COVID probably didn’t help any, and it didn’t seem to be catching on.

ZodWallop · 03-03-2022, 10:33 AM

We have one of their 4-Star stores here and I went in once. I just didn't 'get' it. A collection of random stuff from Amazon. So it was like a whole store of impulse buys. I could see it being fun to look through while you are already in the mall, but I didn't see a compelling reason to go to the mall to go to that store.

The pop-up stores specializing in Amazon tech (we have one of those too. Never seemed to have a Paperwhite 5 to display) and the Amazon book stores make a bit more sense.

I wouldn't be surprised to see the pop-ups come back around the holidays.

Quoth · 03-03-2022, 01:54 PM

I don't think either customers of Amazon or physical shops will lose sleep over this.

Also they refused to say how accurate and reliable the checkout free feature is, though I don't know which Amazon stores had that.

ZodWallop · 03-03-2022, 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quoth

I don't think either customers of Amazon or physical shops will lose sleep over this.

Also they refused to say how accurate and reliable the checkout free feature is, though I don't know which Amazon stores had that.

I'd guess the self checkout feature was likely pretty accurate. As I'm sure it was mainly implemented in areas where theft is a minimal concern. Like what I've seen of self checkout at other stores (different process, but the same concept).

hobnail · 03-03-2022, 04:42 PM

Maybe they'll start selling books in Whole Foods. They may already sell vegan and vegetarian cookbooks there.

Bembo · 03-08-2022, 08:14 PM

I thought they only did that to entice people to 'try' things before they bought them. I went to one once and checked out the new Kindles, but aside from that, I didn't really get the point of the various knickknacks.

Hitch · 03-09-2022, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bembo

I thought they only did that to entice people to 'try' things before they bought them. I went to one once and checked out the new Kindles, but aside from that, I didn't really get the point of the various knickknacks.

Knickknacks/tchotchkes are very profitable impulse buys. Very much like the entire self-published POD (Print on Demand) Low/No-Content arena, with those (literally) million different planners, diaries, journals, weight-loss/calorie tracker journals, etc. that have infested been on Amazon's shelves for the last few years. Impulse buys prior to checkout; nearly pure profit for Amazon and the publisher.

Hitch

haertig · 03-09-2022, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

We have one of their 4-Star stores here and I went in once. I just didn't 'get' it. A collection of random stuff from Amazon. So it was like a whole store of impulse buys.

My thoughts too. We have one here in our mall. I went in once, drug in there by a visiting friend actually. "Random stuff". "Impulse buys". EXACTLY!

I guess they were depending on the mentality, "Hey! I saw this on Amazon. Now it's right here in front of my face. I should buy it!" Not my mentality, but I'll bet there are people like that.

Buying something from Amazon is so easy these days. I don't know how they can sustain what they are doing. The other day I ordered a Pentel mechanical pencil. It was $3-something dollars. It was delivered to my door six hours later. Convenient? Yes. Environmentally or financially sustainable corporate policy? I doubt it.

I suppose an Amazon physical store might be useful for certain purchases. Say you desired a new Kindle, but wanted to actually handle the different ones to see which model you really wanted. The physical store would be good for that. But a hands-on purchase decision like that would be a somewhat rare scenario for me.

ZodWallop · 03-09-2022, 02:29 PM

Yeah, the book stores definitely make more sense to me than the 4-Star Store.

Last time I went to the local mall, there was a 4-Star store and then a little pop-up store in the middle of the mall that sold Amazon tech junk. Kindles, Fires, Echoes and such (I think they had laptops or something else that felt out of place).

As I said before, I suspect the pop-up (this thing really is 'pop-up', a bunch of metal shelving cobbled together to make a little hut) will return around the holidays.

03-02-2022, 06:29 PM	#2
tomsem Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,752 Karma: 26974049 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: USA Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	Makes sense. COVID probably didn’t help any, and it didn’t seem to be catching on. Last edited by tomsem; 03-03-2022 at 03:41 PM.

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03-03-2022, 10:33 AM	#3
ZodWallop Gentleman and scholar Posts: 11,340 Karma: 110455811 Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: Space City, Texas Device: Clara BW; Nook ST w/Glowlight, Paperwhite 3	We have one of their 4-Star stores here and I went in once. I just didn't 'get' it. A collection of random stuff from Amazon. So it was like a whole store of impulse buys. I could see it being fun to look through while you are already in the mall, but I didn't see a compelling reason to go to the mall to go to that store. The pop-up stores specializing in Amazon tech (we have one of those too. Never seemed to have a Paperwhite 5 to display) and the Amazon book stores make a bit more sense. I wouldn't be surprised to see the pop-ups come back around the holidays.

03-03-2022, 01:54 PM	#4
Quoth the rook, bossing Never. Posts: 12,344 Karma: 92073397 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper11	I don't think either customers of Amazon or physical shops will lose sleep over this. Also they refused to say how accurate and reliable the checkout free feature is, though I don't know which Amazon stores had that.

03-03-2022, 04:42 PM	#6
hobnail Running with scissors Posts: 1,557 Karma: 14325282 Join Date: Nov 2019 Device: none	Maybe they'll start selling books in Whole Foods. They may already sell vegan and vegetarian cookbooks there.

03-08-2022, 08:14 PM	#7
Bembo Enthusiast Posts: 29 Karma: 2135988 Join Date: Jun 2021 Device: Kobo Clara HD	I thought they only did that to entice people to 'try' things before they bought them. I went to one once and checked out the new Kindles, but aside from that, I didn't really get the point of the various knickknacks.

03-09-2022, 02:29 PM	#10
ZodWallop Gentleman and scholar Posts: 11,340 Karma: 110455811 Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: Space City, Texas Device: Clara BW; Nook ST w/Glowlight, Paperwhite 3	Yeah, the book stores definitely make more sense to me than the 4-Star Store. Last time I went to the local mall, there was a 4-Star store and then a little pop-up store in the middle of the mall that sold Amazon tech junk. Kindles, Fires, Echoes and such (I think they had laptops or something else that felt out of place). As I said before, I suspect the pop-up (this thing really is 'pop-up', a bunch of metal shelving cobbled together to make a little hut) will return around the holidays.

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