Amazon can't seem to decide whether it wants to have mini-stores within large shopping malls. Early this year the company decided to close the many kiosks it had in malls but a few new mini-stores are appearing in malls branded as "Presented by Amazon".
The new mini-stores
A recent article describes the new mini-stores: "Unlike the previous mall kiosks, which were showcases for Amazon’s Echo, Kindle e-readers, Fire TV, and other first-party hardware, this new approach offers “a themed selection of top brands, frequently updated and presented to you by Amazon.” So, as with its Amazon 4-star retail stores, it sounds like the selection at Presented by Amazon will be rotated out on a regular basis — and it won’t be limited to Amazon’s own products." The stores are described as: "They're a place to browse "a themed selection of top brands, frequently updated and presented to you by Amazon," according to the company's website."
The are only four of the "Presented by Amazon" locations for now. Two are in California and one in Nevada and another in Illinois. In March Amazon had 87 mall kiosks before announcing it was shutting them all down. A spokesperson at the time said that the company had decided to discontinue the pop-up kiosk program and instead would expand Amazon Books, and Amazon 4-star which provided a more comprehensive customer experience and a broader selection.
The four locations are described in a recent article: "There are currently four locations, all of which are in premier, high-trafficked malls: Century City Mall in Los Angeles; San Francisco Centre Mall in San Francisco; Old Orchard Mall in Skokie, Illinois; and Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas."
It seems that Amazon thinks that perhaps being in malls is still worthwhile. The Amazon website shows one Presented by Amazon space is outdoors but others are much like traditional kiosks.
Amazon opening new stores
The company is expanding its 4-star stores described in a recent article: " We started with some of the most popular categories on Amazon.com including devices, consumer electronics, kitchen, home, toys, books, and games, and chose only the products that customers have rated 4 stars and above, or are top sellers, or are new and trending." It is also opening new Amazon Go stores. The company announced it would start accepting cash at Go Stores which were originally to be wholly automated and cashier free.
As the appended video shows, Amazon is also buying giant shopping malls it helped put out of business by its e-commerce and is using them as locations for warehouses or fulfillment centers.
Previously published in the Digital Journal
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