In the United States there are already fourteen bookstores of
Amazon Books. The e-commerce giant opened its first physical bookstore in November 2015 at the University Village shopping center in the city of
Seattle(Washington), where
Amazonis headquartered. The following year, in 2016, it opened Amazon Books stores in two more cities:
San Diego(California) and
Tigard(Oregon). The year 2017 was the one with the most growth, with ten new stores in
Dedhamand
Lynnfied(Massachusetts),
Chicago(Illinois),
New York(at The Shops at Columbus Circle, opened in May 2017, and on 34th Street, opened in August),
Paramus(New Jersey),
Bellevue(Washington) and
San José,
Los Ángelesand
Walnut Creek(California). The first store opened in 2018, which is the fourteenth in the chain, was inaugurated last March 6 in the city of
Austin(Texas). Likewise, the opening of three new bookstores is planned in
Lone Tree(Colorado),
Bethesda(Maryland) and in the Georgetown neighborhood of
Washington D.C.With these fourteen bookstores, Amazon Books has already become the fourth largest bookstore chain in the United States by number of stores, although still quite far from the top three: Barnes & Noble (which has about 780 bookstores), Books-A-Million (260 locations), and Half Price Books (127 bookstores). At the end of last year, the chain that then occupied fourth place in the
ranking, Book World, announced the closure of its 45 bookstores.
Physical extension of Amazon.comAmazon Books stores are conceived as a physical extension of Amazon.com. As explained on its own website, "Amazon Books integrates the benefits of shopping
offlineand
online». How does this translate into practice? A visit to the Amazon Books bookstore in The Shops at Columbus Circle mall in New York City reveals it. This bookstore, which opened its doors in May 2017, is located on the third floor of the Time Warner Center towers, on the southwest corner of Central Park. The following graphic tour allows us to discover the main differential characteristics of Amazon Books:
Amazon Books bookstores are open spaces, without interior walls. All books are displayed face-out, so customers can always see the cover.
The books that can be found in Amazon Books bookstores are chosen based on several criteria: user ratings, pre-sale orders, sales, the popularity of books on the book recommendation website
Goodreads(belonging to Amazon), and the selection made by the managers of each bookstore.
For Amazon Prime members, the prices of books and any other product available at Amazon Books are the same as on Amazon.com. For customers who are not Amazon Prime members, the price of books is as displayed in the store.
Most books have at least a four-star rating (out of a maximum of five). There is a space in Amazon Books to highlight certain books with especially high ratings. All books have a product page that includes a user review, the average rating of the book on Amazon.com, and the number of reviews (with the reference date).
One of the sections of Amazon Books is dedicated to presenting the books that have been most frequently included in the wish lists of Amazon.com users.
Just like on Amazon.com, at Amazon Books customers can find books related to a specific title.
One of the bookstore's shelves is dedicated to presenting books that Kindle users, Amazon's e-reader, have read most quickly.
Some books are selected based on the city where the Amazon Books store is located. The two previous images show travel books for visitors to New York City and the fiction books that are most successful among buyers in that area.
Gift books suitable for any occasion also have their space at Amazon Books.
As indicated, the managers of each bookstore also display a selection of titles they consider to be of special interest at any given time.
Integration with Amazon.com also occurs, if the customer wishes, at the time of payment. Purchases can be made through the Amazon app.
At Amazon Books, in addition to books, various Amazon devices can also be purchased, such as the different models of the e-book reader
Kindle, voice assistants
Echoor tablets
Fireand
Fire TV. All devices can be tested in the store.
Amazon Books has a space dedicated to children's books. Among others, those with a higher rating on Amazon.com are highlighted.
Amazon.com's books of the month or titles selected in the Goodreads book club are also present on the shelves of Amazon Books.
In Amazon Books there is space to highlight books that are causing intense debate among users, with readers for and against.
The Amazon Books bookstore in the shopping center
The Shops at Columbus Circleit is located on the third floor of the building. On the ground floor, next to the sculptures of Adam and Eve by Colombian artist Fernando Botero, visitors could find, a few days after the opening of the store, an invitation to discover the new bookstore a few floors above.
(Photographs: Ismael Nafría)
The second bookstore opened by Amazon Books in New York is located on 34th Street, next to the Empire State Building. (Photographs: Clara Nafría)
The most recent opening: Austin (Texas) The fourteenth bookstore opened by Amazon Books in the United States is located in the shopping center
Domain NORTHSIDEfrom Austin, the capital of Texas. It opened its doors last Tuesday, March 6, 2018. (Photographs: Mariana Martin)