Amazon Opens The First Amazon Books On Nov. 3; Visits To Amazon's Physical Store
After years of speculation, Amazon Books is finally opened.
Amazon launched a physical store on Tuesday and calls it "Amazon Books." Its first location is at Seattle's University Village shopping center.
Amazon hopes it will be followed by others and it has been created with some open yet intimate designs where pathways and aisles are maneuverable. There is also a big magazine stand with daily calendars, but overall, the printed content is about books.
Ars Technica visited the store and said there is nothing exciting about it that would make them want to return. Aesthetics-wise, the wooden shelves, hardwood floors offered a hint of a quaint old bookstore; and the LED-equipped light bars all over as well as the electronics demos felt like being in Best Buy.
New Republic commented that Amazon Books is a commonplace. In Amazon's physical store, the stocks are placed close to one another so browsing is not easy and bending down to see lower shelve books is not comfortable.
Amazon Books could be an ideal shopping place for some clueless book shoppers as Amazon knows how to target categories to a wide audience. Probably taking comfort with the approach is anyone who enters the store and gets the "god, so many books" feeling.
Amazon is interested in offering a curated and comfortable book-buying experience. There is Fire TV demo everywhere, then a dedicated table for Fire tablets and a "read the book, listen to the book, watch the book" display, for those who do not know that Amazon can supply an audiobook as well as a film version of any hit franchise.
In Amazon Books, few tables were for Amazon Echo, with loud noise. Whenever the Amazon physical store turns the speakers on, the music played are all from Amazon Prime Music. Hence, the current physical version of Amazon Books is too busy, gadget-loaded and loud for a "let's hang out to read and chat" experience. However, it looks like an Amazon products showroom for those not sold at Wal-Mart or Best Buy.
