Amazon Boldly goes to the Real World

Amazon has opened a bookshop in Seattle in a move it described as a “physical extension” of its business. Most books have been rated four stars or above by readers.

It will stock the most popular books from Amazon.com， and the prices will be the same as those offered on the website.

Customers will also be able to try out Amazons devices， including the Kindle and its Fire TV.

Rival bookseller： hope the venture “falls flat on its face”.

Rival bookseller Waterstones said it hoped the venture “falls flat on its face”.

Earlier， Amazon Books vice-president Jennifer Cast announced the online giant would open its “real， wooden doors” at the Seattle University Village.

Amazon.com customer reviews will be displayed alongside the books.

“Amazon Books is a physical extension of Amazon.com. Weve applied 20 years of online bookselling experience to build a store that integrates the benefits of offline and online book shop- ping，” she said.

The shop will stock 5，000 books in the 5，500-sq-ft （510-sq-m） space， with the majority chosen on the basis of customer ratings， pre-orders， sales， popularity on reader recommendation site Goodreads， and the shops curatorsassessments.

James Daunt， managing director of Waterstones， was unimpressed， particularly with the decision to display books mainly “face out”.

“With only 5，000 titles in a space in which Waterstones would put over 10 times that number， it appears to be a tentative dip of the toe into physical bookselling waters.

“Clearly， however， a skim of the bestsellers away from true bookshops would be very damaging： we very much hope that it falls flat on its face.”

Waterstones recently said that it would stop selling Amazons Kindle in its stores.

Tom Tivnan， features editor at the Bookseller magazine， questioned why the online giant was experimenting with a bricks-and-mortar store.

“It goes against the Amazon model of being a never-ending bookshop that is not reliant on having books on shelves，” he said.

Much of the stock will be books that have been highly rated by Amazon. com customers

“It is unclear whether they will roll it out across the US.

“I can see it going to a limited num-ber of cities like New York or possibly London， but I dont think it will have a huge impact.”

The lines between online and offline are becoming increasingly blurred.

In the spring， Google launched a shop based at Currys PC World on Londons Tottenham Court Road， stocking a range of Google products， including Android phones and tablets and Chromebook laptops.

Google has launched its first real world “store” allowing people to try out Android or Chromebook before they buy within a dedicated Google environment.

The store within a store is located in the incredibly large Carphone Warehouse / Currys shop on Londons Tottenham Court Road， and follows Microsoft and Apple who both have store concessions - stores within stores- already in the shop.

Placed just inside the front door， the new “area” features a window display， a huge doodle wall that lets you graffiti the Google logo， and an even bigger interactive Google Maps screen that you control with a large touchscreen display.

Smattered around these whimsical playthings （there is even a coffee bike for the next two weeks） are of course Google powered products including the latest Nexus tablets， Android Wear smartwatches， smartphones， and Chromebooks.

The interactive window display encourages you to push buttons and turn knobs just like an exhibit at the Science Museum， and you can have you picture snapped before it is emailed to you to share.

The Google Doodle wall is probably the most advanced bit of tech here， and on asking， youll get a digital spray can to make your mark. Remembering to press the capture button is key， and at the end you can access a video of your efforts， again to share.

With two hipster-looking store dudes （both with big beards and short hair of course） manning the experience there is always someone on hand to help， although you will have to venture off into the depths of the store to pay.

It is obvious though that from watching people in the area it is being seen as a play thing rather than a resource to get what you want if you already know what that is.

Apples retail arm neednt be overly worried over Googles efforts， but if youve got a spare 10 minutes and find yourself on Tottenham Court Road， the experience is fun enough to waste some of your time on.

Are the locals buying from Amazon book shop？

The e-commerce behemoth that put chain bookstores out of business has seemingly ripped a page from their playbook with the opening of its first physical shop， in Seattle. But are the locals buying it？

It took Amazon.com to get Kirsten Davenport back into a bookshop.

“It has been a long time. Years. I couldnt even tell you where a bookstore is，” the healthcare manager said. “Thats so awful.”

But Davenport couldnt resist the lure of Amazons first-ever bricks and mortar bookshop， the kind the online retailers many detractors say it has spent two decades putting out of business， which opened this week in the multinationals home town of Seattle.

“I probably buy 99% of everything on Amazon. Its strange to come in here and just grab a book and take it home and read it. Although I could have just ordered it on Amazon Prime and then had it delivered to me in the next few hours，” she said.

The company describes the selection of titles on sale as “curated” based on customer ratings， the number of preorders of forthcoming titles， sales and staff picks. These include the latest Stephen King， lots of cookery books and a selection of writing by local authors.

The opening of any new bookshop in 21st century America may be unusual but Amazon Books vice president Jennifer Cast speaks of it as if the very idea of perusing books on shelves is a great leap forward.

“Weve innovated in many ways in the books category over the past 20 years， and we believed we could innovate and give customers an additional， enjoyable way to discover great books，”she said in an email.

There are innovations， including only displaying front covers instead of spines. This gives each title a good show but means fewer of them are on display. The Seattle store has about 5，000 titles.

Each has a label carrying a review from Amazons website – all positive –and the overall rating by customers in stars out of five. Davenport likes that.

“Im looking for something for my daughter that shes going to want to read on the airplane. I have no idea if shes going to like it， but I like having this tell me what to get basically. I dont have to do anything，” she said.

Jacqueline Herschberg， a retired librarian， is not so sure.

“I think its very nice to see the books faced outwards. I like that very much. The reviews， not so much. I tend not to put my faith in personal reviews of books. Everyones taste is different. I dont know who these people are，” she said.

Herschberg came to the store out of curiosity.

“Im not really shopping here. Im here to take a look. There was a big mystery about this before it opened because they had it under wraps and you couldnt tell what was going on in here. Its larger than I thought it would be，”she said.

Customers seem less interested in the Amazon gadgets strategically but not obtrusively placed throughout the store – aside from the large Amazon Fire TV screen sitting right in front of the doors.

A customer rep shows off one of the latest pieces of tech， a cylindrical speaker which responds to voice commands to read audio books， cough up the football scores or predict the weather. The rep tells it to read Moby-Dick. Silence. A request for a （pitiful） joke is more successful.

Even though she hasnt been inside another bookshop in years， Davenport lamented the closing of a nearby branch of the Barnes and Noble book superstore， a nostalgia that says something about how much has changed in the trade. Before Amazon popped up， Barnes & Noble was itself accused of driving small independent bookshops out of business by undercutting prices.

But then Davenport acknowledged her part in its downfall by saying that even if the Barnes and Noble branch were still open， she wouldnt shop there.

“Its a loyalty I have with Amazon that I trust coming in here that Im getting the best deal from them，” she said.

That is the bait Amazon brings to its bookshop. Signs assure customers they will pay exactly what they would online. Scanners are strategically placed for a flash of the barcode on the book cover， and up pops a price slashed by 40%.

Herschberg is doubtful about all this.

“Im a former librarian so Ive always been a book reader and Ive always been in favour of small bookstores. So in that respect， I dont say I disapprove of it but Im a little disappointed that it may prevent other smaller bookstores from succeeding，” she said.

But then Herschberg reveals that she too has been seduced into what she describes as the easy option of buying from Amazon online.

“I do， I do. I have to plead guilty to that. But I also go to the university bookstore because I like to look at books as well. People accuse you of being a troglodyte if you dont get on board with online things，” she said.

Gesuealdo Barone， a young man on holiday from Austria， is surprised to discover there is an Amazon bookshop at all.

“I think its nicely done but Im asking myself if its really necessary to open a real-life bookstore，” said the 27-year-old janitor and multimedia artist.

Does he think Amazon will be opening one in Austria any time soon？

“Not right now because the market is really filled. Maybe in a couple of years when Amazon has wiped all the other booksellers away，” he said.

Cast doesnt see Amazons corner shop as a threat to anyone.

“As many bookstore owners have said， successful stores each have a different emphasis， so I think successful stores will remain successful，” she said.

Asked if Amazon plans to open more bricks and mortar shops， Cast gives nothing away： “Well see.” But its surely only a matter of time before that other Seattle monolith dividing the world， Starbucks， opens a cafe in the corner next to the magazine rack.