Bookstore and electronics
On November 3, 2015, Amazon opened its first retail bookstore in Seattle’s University Village. They stock the store with the most popular 6,000 titles based on sales data and reviews collected on Amazon.com. The book prices in the retail store are the same as the price listed on the website.[1]
Amazon’s retail store initiative is being managed by Amazon executive Steve Kessel. This retail store move to retail stores will not be limited to just Amazon Books stores. Amazon will also try its hand at other types of products, such as electronics. One CEO has shared that he believes Amazon is planning on opening up to 400 stores across the U.S. [2]
Groceries and fashion
Amazon has launched a full grocery service (Amazon Fresh) in major cities, Seattle and New York, offering name brands. Amazon already offers Amazon Pantry, allowing Prime customers to fill a box for a flat rate of $5.99 shipping. In addition to groceries, other areas Amazon is expanding into is fashion with exclusive clothing brands and already offers credit in the UK. [3]
Amazon drones to deliver orders within 30 minutes
Amazon has been working on their drone delivery service for some time now, with the majority of test flights were performed in Australia. Still waiting on regulatory approval by the FAA. [4]
More Fulfillment Centers
Amazon opened its first California fulfillment center in San Bernardino in 2012, and has seven in CA alone. Amazon has 120 fulfillment centers in the U.S., and an estimated 120 worldwide. It has also moved into the Air Freight business, as it is now leasing 20 Boeing 767 jets for their rapid expansion to compete with FedEx and UPS. [5]
One Hour Delivery
Amazon Prime Now offers a two hour delivery time for Amazon Prime members, and if you want the product in one hour, pay an additional $8 USD. Amazon offers Prime Now as competition to current brick-and-mortar stores, at least until Amazon has its own brick-and-mortar stores in place. Amazon Prime Now is available in about 20 U.S. cities and in London. [6]
[1] theguardian.com (Seattle store)
[2] recode.net
[3] theguardian.com (Amazon Selling Groceries)
[4] Watch Amazon’s latest drone demo
[5] latimes.com
[6] bloomberg.com
