Amazon Is Shutting Down A Huge Portion Of The Company
Find out why E-commerce titan Amazon shockingly revealed its plans to shut down a huge portion of the company.
This article is more than 2 years old
After a few years of expansion, Amazon’s physical locations shut down. Amazon’s bookstores, 4-star locations, and pop-up shops are being closed in the United States and the UK, in an effort to reinvent its marketing procedures. Unfortunately, since Amazon is widely known as a virtual retailer, it had trouble attracting customers to its in-person shopping locations.
Amazon started this foray into physical businesses just a few years ago. The first bookstore opened in 2015, ready to take the retail world by storm. Amazon’s 4-star outlet came a bit later, finally opening in 2018. The 4-star outlet was a physical shop that only displayed products with a 4-star rating or higher on the company’s website. Though Amazon bolstered its commitment to in-person retail, 68 businesses will permanently shut down.
Amazon has been relatively audacious in its marketing approaches. Alongside starting bookstores and pop-ups, the tech company announced opening a one-of-a-kind clothing store. Reported to be in Los Angeles, Amazon said that the shop would display customers’ favorite brands and styles. The shop will also implement futuristic technology, like selecting clothing items via an app that sends the specific clothes to the desired dressing room. The shop will be ready for patrons sometime in 2022, and its first location will be at the Americana at Brand.
Though Amazon is shutting down almost 70 real-life locations, the company is still committed to tangible shopping experiences. The Amazon Go stores, a cashier-less market, have been expanding to cities and suburbs around the nation. These stores include a wide variety of groceries, including snacks, drinks, ready-to-eat meals, and home goods. Scanners replace physical workers at the cashier, and cameras placed in the store detect what patrons take off shelves. Once you exit the store, a charge will pop up on your Amazon account.
Today, Amazon Go stores only exist in a few urban areas. A few stores operate in New York City, and a new shop debuted in Los Angeles over the last month. Though Amazon has primarily focused on opening Go stores in metropolitan settings, new stores models are in the works for suburban areas.
These Amazon Go stores have already caused controversy, with many criticizing cashier-less businesses for discriminating against those without credit cards. While many expressed their concern in New York, its neighboring city Philadelphia recently banned stores from accepting credit cards only. With new policies favoring those that can’t obtain credit cards, Amazon’s stores devoid of real workers could be jeopardized.
Since Amazon received stark criticism for credit card-only businesses, it recently reinvented the Go stores to include cash. The Brookefield Place store in New York City was the first store to viably accept cash, with Amazon’s executives pledging that all Go stores in the future would have cash options.
Though Amazon is shutting down many of its physical locations, its commitment to reinventing shopping experiences is still alive and well. With its modern take on corner stores and clothing shops, Amazon has propelled its vision into the future. Though bookstores might have been a bust for the tech company, other businesses like Amazon Go may come out extremely successful.
