Amazon's first ever bookstore will open to the public. Amazon is making a huge change from books offered online to books sold off the rack. According to Seattle Times, this coming Tuesday at 9:30 A.M. the awaited bookstore will be opened in the University Village in Seattle. Amazon Books, which is the store's name, is also the company's first ever physical location.
For over 20 years, Amazon has been selling books through modern ways utilizing the cyber world. But now, they have decided to sell books the old-fashioned way. According to The Verge though, Amazon will not be doing things like a traditional bookstore. The store will be dependent on data from Amazon.com, like sales totals, customer ratings, and popularity. These data will then be used to decide which books will be stocked and displayed on the shelves. Vice president of Amazon Books, Jennifer Cast said "It's data with heart", "We're taking the data we have and we're creating physical places with it." Aside from the books, customers will also see kindles, fire tablets, and the echo sold in the bookstore.
Another interesting about the bookstore, Amazon will be doing a unique style of displaying their books. The books will be placed face out and a sign will be put for each book indicating their Amazon.com rating and an actual customer review. Cast said. "What better way to celebrate reading than to have the voices of readers under our books?" Another thing is that all the books' prices in the bookstore will be the same to that on the website.
There will also be a section of books that are staff favorites. For the opening, the section will have Amazon's Chief Executive Jeff Bezo's favorite titles that include "The Gift of Fear" by Gavin de Becker, "The Five Love Languages" by Gary Chapman and "Traps" by his wife, MacKenzie Bezos.
Many suspect that this first ever bookstore is a part of the company's experiment to venture into physical stores. Cast was quick to comment though that they are focused on this one bookstore for now. Additional locations and future plans are not yet in sight.
