Amazon Planning 100 Pop-up Stores in US

  • Tuesday, September 13th, 2016
  • Author: Tim Maytom
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amazon pop up retail storeOnline retailer Amazon is pushing further into the world of bricks-and-mortar shopping, with plans for 100 pop-up stores in US shopping malls that will focus on showcasing its technology offerings.

According to Business Insider, which quoted a source familiar with the plans, the retailer will open miniature storefronts which will sell its hardware devices, with particular emphasis placed on its Echo home speakers, which function as a smart home assistant.

Echo has proved a relative success for the company where previous attempts to enter the hardware market have failed (the less said about the Fire Phone, the better), and more importantly, it serves as an additional channel through which Amazon can target its high-spending Prime subscribers.

In addition to the Echo, the stores will also carry Amazons Kindle eReaders, Fire TV and even its Dash Buttons, but the broader goal of the initiative is to drive more traffic to Amazons online store by establishing multiple access points to consumers.

Pop-up stores are nothing new to Amazon. There are currently 21 in operation around the US, more than triple the number in operation last year. That figure is expected to grow as high as 30 in the build-up to the holiday retail season, and could reach 100 over the course of 2017, with new stores opening almost every week across the US.

Amazon has even launched a dedicated webpage helping people find their closest branch, while job listings by Amazon suggests stores are soon to open in cities including Miami, Florida and West Hartford, Connecticut.

One of the job descriptions for a senior vendor manager says that “Amazon Device Pop-up stores have emerged from the test phase with a goal to expand and grow,” suggesting that this is just the beginning of Amazons physical retail ambitions.

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