While I have not been a trumpeter of the view that online stores will completely replace physical stores, this idea has been closest to reality in the case of bookshops. And it is understandable since Amazon has done a fantastic job in creating a store that makes it immensely easy to purchase books. As a client of the corporation and one who has purchased both the paper and Kindle version of books, I made the trip to an Amazon bookstore in Georgetown for the first time a couple of days ago.
I am aware that Amazon tactics are driven by lots of data and their responsiveness to client needs is legendary. Thus as a client who lives in a country that does not have the physical stores, I was very alert to see what a physical store for the giant retailer looks like. I write my assessment below.
Perhaps it was my high expectation or because I stayed in the store for just half an hour but I found that there is a start stark difference in the experience between shopping online and visiting the store even if both are run by a great retailing firm. In short, the experience in that particular bookstore was not overwhelming. I attribute this assessment despite that fact that the store was well laid out, had vast volumes of books and I found all the stuff I was searching for. My main thinking is that I expected an Amazon store to be much better than others in the same way that its website is far better.
The Amazon store that I visited did not stand out and I know a couple of independent bookstores in many parts of the world that are memorable. The one in Georgetown was not.
