A week ago in Seattle, Amazon opened the doors to its first real life bookstore. It’s a curious move, considering the online giant’s founding goal was to offer more books for sale, and at lower prices, than any brick and mortar could possibly offer. (And considering Bezos’ edict that Amazon should approach the traditional book industry the way a cheetah would pursue a sickly gazelle.)
In designing their new brick-and-mortar store, it’s clear the behemoth has forgone that dedication to variety. Despite claims from the VP of Amazon Books that Amazon would use the data available on its online stock to “develop a mix of titles that would be different from traditional stores,” the new shop stocks only about 5,000 titles (all face out on the shelves), and these are selected largely for their four-star-or-higher rating online. To compare, a pretty average sized Barnes & Noble houses roughly 100,000 titles, with some stores carrying up to 200,000.
The reviews have been mixed: a warm space, friendly atmosphere, disappointing selection, no chance of discovering unexpected gems.
“In designing their new brick-and-mortar store, it’s clear the behemoth has forgone that dedication to variety. Despite claims from the VP of Amazon Books that Amazon would use the data available on its online stock to “develop a mix of titles that would be different from traditional stores,” the new shop stocks only about 5,000 titles (all face out on the shelves), and these are selected largely for their four-star-or-higher rating online. To compare, a pretty average sized Barnes & Noble houses roughly 100,000 titles, with some stores carrying up to 200,000.
The reviews have been mixed: a warm space, friendly atmosphere, disappointing selection, no chance of discovering unexpected gems.”
— Paul Constant, Seattle Review of Books
They did, however, manage to maintain their rock-bottom prices. In fact, rather than price tags, each book has a barcode. Scan it with your Amazon-enabled smart phone, or one of the price scanners around the floor, and the price will pop up. It matches the ever-fluctuating, always-discounted online cost. Which leads me to wonder, does Jeff Bezos think he’s going to sell enough inexpensive books to pay overhead on the store, or is this yet another way for Amazon to hemorrhage money because it can?
Independent bookstores seem to be regarding this new shop with a mix of suspicion and amusement. One independent bookstore owner offered a gift certificate to the first shopper who used the Amazon store as a showroom for his or her own indie shopping (something Amazon has encouraged its own customers to do in reverse — discover books at brick and mortar stores, then buy them from Amazon instead), and post a picture on twitter.
Serious offer: first person who showrooms Amazon Books gets a gift certificate to @ElliottBayBooks. Send pictures. https://t.co/h8e82wy8NA
— Paul Constant (@paulconstant) November 6, 2015
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Others have expressed concern that, although Amazon’s selection is slim, its efforts to take the big name sales from local stores could be a kick Seattle indies don’t need.
As for me, I’ll check it out for myself if I’m ever in Seattle, but if I find anything I like, I’ll pick it up elsewhere.