Press reports coming speak of a comment laid forward by Amazon’s CEO to be opening approx. 400 bookstores, gaining much of attention in San Francisco.
CEO of General Growth Properties Inc., Sandeep Mathrani was reached on earnings call’s query regarding mall traffic during entire holiday period. Upon which he answered the traffic to be on hike, meanwhile attributing increment digits to consumer items; the ones obtained online and then return to brick and mortar stores.
As per his statement regarding this:
“And this case in point, you’ve got Amazon opening bricks and mortar bookstores and their goal is to open as I understand 300 to 400 bookstores.”
On a similar note, Mathrani read out entire list of various stores looking ahead to launch physical stores. Amazon opened its first and so far only brick and mortar store, a bookstore, in November. For years now, Amazon has been the most terrifying competitor on the planet.
Amazon is interested in bookstores for two big reasons:
- It has the ability to open bookstores.
- It is driven by a relentless desire to conquer everything in its path, and brick-and-mortar retail is a thing.
Not to mention, if the Seattle online retailer were to open 400 bookstores, it would immediately become the second largest retail bookseller in the United States. Only Barnes & Nobel, which currently has 640 bookstores in 50 states, would be larger.
As per forecast by Vice President of Research for StellaService, Kevon Hills, Amazon could offer free returns in case of having physical stores all over.
“Today Amazon can process refunds within a day or two, but cannot compete with retailers who offer ‘free return shipping’ by allowing shoppers to drop off a return at your neighborhood store. We’ve seen ‘buy online, return in store’ (BORIS) become an area of focus for retailers with physical stores, as it has been an advantage over Amazon.” – Hills
