5 ms·

A Review of the Amazon Books Store

45 points by acangiano 11y ago

cubano 11y ago
Knowing the terrible privacy- and tracking-issue history as related to the Amazon app, I would never install it for any reason, much less just to check prices. In fact, after reading this, it makes me wonder if the real purpose behind these stores isn't simply to force people to install the app.
- jonknee 11y ago
  > In fact, after reading this, it makes me wonder if the real purpose behind these stores isn't simply to force people to install the app. Oh yea, the Bezos long con where by he knows if he makes a store you will visit it and you WILL install his app... Or maybe he just wants a place for people to use and demo their physical devices?
  - cubano 11y ago
    According to the article, there are no prices posted in the store and the only way to get them is to install the app, so apparently yes you WILL install the app if you actually want to buy something. And just in case you are not aware of the security issues with the Amazon app[1] [1] http://www.computerworld.com/article/2489480/security0/amazon--at-t--snapchat-rated-among-the-least-trustworthy-with-data--eff-finds.html http://www.computerworld.com/article/2489480/security0/amazo...
    - jonknee 11y ago
      Actually, according to the article: > For those with a dead battery or who are not inclined to take their smartphone out of their pocket, there are a few scanners around the bookstore, which you can use to scan books and discover their prices. People who refuse to install the Amazon app are also very unlikely to visit the Amazon store. Just get your books elsewhere. Also your link has nothing to do with security issues in the Amazon app and is just a ranking from the EFF for how companies respond to records requests. > Amazon, Snapchat and AT&T rank among the least trustworthy technology companies when it comes to how they handle government data requests, according to a report from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
      - cubano 11y ago
        > People who refuse to install the Amazon app are also very unlikely to visit the Amazon store. Just get your books elsewhere. Exactly...that's what my original post said I was going to do, so we agree. I don't really understand what the big deal was.
        jonknee 11y ago
        Because you theorized that the stores were a plot to get people to install the Amazon app. Which is absurd. > "it makes me wonder if the real purpose behind these stores isn't simply to force people to install the app"
dropdatabase 11y ago
I wonder if the book store is large enough to host a data center or if there's already one in there
- giaour 11y ago
  I think Seattle City Light would be a bit too expensive.
- jchendy 11y ago
  Why would they want to do that?
- jonknee 11y ago
  Absolutely not and that would be an awful idea to boot. It's a regular looking bookstore in a regular looking place (an outdoor mall).
rb808 11y ago
Does anyone have a good online bookselling that isn't Amazon? I started using abebooks before realizing its Amazon owned. bookdepository.com is good, but not great. oreilly.com is good for their stuff. B&N is OK I guess.
- coldpie 11y ago
  I think half.com is pretty good.
- caractacus 11y ago
  Bookdepository.com is also Amazon owned.
- anoother 11y ago
  bookdepository.com is also Amazon-owned.
- joao 11y ago
  bookdepository.com is also owned by Amazon, since 2011. It's hard to escape their grasp on the market.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- LeoPanthera 11y ago
  eBay! A huge number of independent bookstores sell books, both used and new, online via eBay.
- giaour 11y ago
  I like to buy specialty books directly from publishers. Art books are often difficult to find elsewhere, and tech books tend to come with nice extras. I used to prefer FNAC, but they only exist in France.
  - FanaHOVA 11y ago
    We have FNAC in Italy :)
swehner 11y ago
Short summary: verdict - useless
Booktrope 11y ago
In the various reviews I've seen for this store, no one seems to have raised the question of, how would a store like this be profitable? It's selling books at the same prices as Amazon online, but with the added overhead of being in a very high-rent space in an upscale shopping center. There seem to be lots of employees for a book store. At the discounts that Amazon offers, their margin on books is thinner than most bookstores. Sales would need to be very high to make this pencil out, from what I can see. This might be a play like the old Crown Books stores which sold only best sellers at a big discount with the idea of making it up on volume. But Crown did not last long. Amazon does have good data about what people buy, so perhaps they could maximize revenue per square foot by packing popular sellers in. On the other hand, one departure of this store from typical bookstores is that books are all facing out on the shelves, meaning fewer titles and probably less revenue per square foot. I'm wondering how this approach to bookstores could pay off for Amazon, except by putting competitive pressure on any other bookstores in the area. But Barnes and Noble closed the store it had in this shopping center quite some time ago. Is it advertising, an attempt to upscale Amazon's brand? Amazon has the number one favorable brand among consumers from what I've read, and it's certainly where most people go these days for books -- last report I saw said over 80% of book buyers use Amazon. So what the business purpose of this store is, unclear to me. But it's Amazon, and surely they're just a few steps ahead of what I can see.
- mafuyu 11y ago
  Like many other Amazon products, it's likely to get people into the Amazon ecosystem. You need to install the Amazon app to read prices and they can upsell their Fire devices in-store. Considering how they went for a high-end Barnes and Noble/Apple Store mix vibe, their primary goal is likely not to sell books but to get a foothold into physical retail like Apple.
- ozten 11y ago
  Those physical Microsoft stores are often practically vacant. But what would the marketing budget for a really well placed billboard be per month? What if you could walk into the billboard? Host launch parties starring famous bands, getting you into more news stories. Fans can make a pilgrimage to something tangible. Apple stores are clearly profitable, but I wonder if "close to break even" isn't a good enough goal for brand awareness stores like these.
RobotfromOT 11y ago
What? No Jeff Bezos robot?! http://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/joyarchives/2247.html http://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/joyarchives/2247.html
pklausler 11y ago
Looks like a great way to buy a bestseller from Amazon without having to wait for shipping. But it's not going to appeal much to the kind of people who are willing to spend hours wandering the aisles of a real bookstore. One of the things that makes me a very happy Portlander is that Powell's City of Books (http://powells.com http://powells.com) is always crowded with blissed-out bibliophiles perusing the million-plus new+used volumes. But I could be all wrong. I don't understand the business of books at all, because I would think that a store like Powell's would flourish in other literate locations (e.g., Minneapolis / St Paul), and yet it remains sadly unique in the U.S.
- Qworg 11y ago
  There are other places like Powell's: Haslam's in St. Petersburg, FL - http://www.haslams.com/ http://www.haslams.com/ and others. Edit: Thanks for the location correction - I lived there for five years and should know better. ;)
  - pklausler 11y ago
    Thanks so much for the tip. Are new and used volumes shelved together at Haslam's?
    - CapitalistCartr 11y ago
      No, they are in different sections.
  - CapitalistCartr 11y ago
    Haslam's is wonderful; I grew up going there. But its across the Bay in St. Petersburg.
- malnourish 11y ago
  In Minneapolis there's Magers and Quinn
  - 11y ago
notatoad 11y ago
>The second advantage is actually a side effect of their limited selection approach. They are essentially offering a pre-selection service to the public. this seems less like "a review of the amazon books store" and more like "an amazon user finds out what a book store is"
hashberry 11y ago
"The central section however is dedicated to various gadgets, mostly created by Amazon itself, such as Echo, Fire TV, Kindle Fire, etc. In this the shop reminded me a little of the Apple Store, which clearly inspired the layout of this section." The focal point of the "amazon books" store is its tech, not books. They are using "book store" as a cover. The U-Village is an upscale shopping experience and easily allows for impulse buys on new $100+ tech products. It's their version of the Apple Store.

45 points by acangiano 11y ago

Knowing the terrible privacy- and tracking-issue history as related to the Amazon app, I would never install it for any reason, much less just to check prices. In fact, after reading this, it makes me wonder if the real purpose behind these stores isn't simply to force people to install the app.

jonknee 11y ago
> In fact, after reading this, it makes me wonder if the real purpose behind these stores isn't simply to force people to install the app. Oh yea, the Bezos long con where by he knows if he makes a store you will visit it and you WILL install his app... Or maybe he just wants a place for people to use and demo their physical devices?
- cubano 11y ago
  According to the article, there are no prices posted in the store and the only way to get them is to install the app, so apparently yes you WILL install the app if you actually want to buy something. And just in case you are not aware of the security issues with the Amazon app[1] [1] http://www.computerworld.com/article/2489480/security0/amazon--at-t--snapchat-rated-among-the-least-trustworthy-with-data--eff-finds.html http://www.computerworld.com/article/2489480/security0/amazo...
  - jonknee 11y ago
    Actually, according to the article: > For those with a dead battery or who are not inclined to take their smartphone out of their pocket, there are a few scanners around the bookstore, which you can use to scan books and discover their prices. People who refuse to install the Amazon app are also very unlikely to visit the Amazon store. Just get your books elsewhere. Also your link has nothing to do with security issues in the Amazon app and is just a ranking from the EFF for how companies respond to records requests. > Amazon, Snapchat and AT&T rank among the least trustworthy technology companies when it comes to how they handle government data requests, according to a report from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
    - cubano 11y ago
      > People who refuse to install the Amazon app are also very unlikely to visit the Amazon store. Just get your books elsewhere. Exactly...that's what my original post said I was going to do, so we agree. I don't really understand what the big deal was.
      - jonknee 11y ago
        Because you theorized that the stores were a plot to get people to install the Amazon app. Which is absurd. > "it makes me wonder if the real purpose behind these stores isn't simply to force people to install the app"

dropdatabase 11y ago

I wonder if the book store is large enough to host a data center or if there's already one in there

giaour 11y ago
I think Seattle City Light would be a bit too expensive.
jchendy 11y ago
Why would they want to do that?
jonknee 11y ago
Absolutely not and that would be an awful idea to boot. It's a regular looking bookstore in a regular looking place (an outdoor mall).

rb808 11y ago

Does anyone have a good online bookselling that isn't Amazon? I started using abebooks before realizing its Amazon owned. bookdepository.com is good, but not great. oreilly.com is good for their stuff. B&N is OK I guess.

coldpie 11y ago
I think half.com is pretty good.
caractacus 11y ago
Bookdepository.com is also Amazon owned.
anoother 11y ago
bookdepository.com is also Amazon-owned.
joao 11y ago
bookdepository.com is also owned by Amazon, since 2011. It's hard to escape their grasp on the market.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
LeoPanthera 11y ago
eBay! A huge number of independent bookstores sell books, both used and new, online via eBay.
giaour 11y ago
I like to buy specialty books directly from publishers. Art books are often difficult to find elsewhere, and tech books tend to come with nice extras. I used to prefer FNAC, but they only exist in France.
- FanaHOVA 11y ago
  We have FNAC in Italy :)

swehner 11y ago

Short summary: verdict - useless

Booktrope 11y ago

In the various reviews I've seen for this store, no one seems to have raised the question of, how would a store like this be profitable? It's selling books at the same prices as Amazon online, but with the added overhead of being in a very high-rent space in an upscale shopping center. There seem to be lots of employees for a book store. At the discounts that Amazon offers, their margin on books is thinner than most bookstores. Sales would need to be very high to make this pencil out, from what I can see. This might be a play like the old Crown Books stores which sold only best sellers at a big discount with the idea of making it up on volume. But Crown did not last long. Amazon does have good data about what people buy, so perhaps they could maximize revenue per square foot by packing popular sellers in. On the other hand, one departure of this store from typical bookstores is that books are all facing out on the shelves, meaning fewer titles and probably less revenue per square foot. I'm wondering how this approach to bookstores could pay off for Amazon, except by putting competitive pressure on any other bookstores in the area. But Barnes and Noble closed the store it had in this shopping center quite some time ago. Is it advertising, an attempt to upscale Amazon's brand? Amazon has the number one favorable brand among consumers from what I've read, and it's certainly where most people go these days for books -- last report I saw said over 80% of book buyers use Amazon. So what the business purpose of this store is, unclear to me. But it's Amazon, and surely they're just a few steps ahead of what I can see.

mafuyu 11y ago
Like many other Amazon products, it's likely to get people into the Amazon ecosystem. You need to install the Amazon app to read prices and they can upsell their Fire devices in-store. Considering how they went for a high-end Barnes and Noble/Apple Store mix vibe, their primary goal is likely not to sell books but to get a foothold into physical retail like Apple.
ozten 11y ago
Those physical Microsoft stores are often practically vacant. But what would the marketing budget for a really well placed billboard be per month? What if you could walk into the billboard? Host launch parties starring famous bands, getting you into more news stories. Fans can make a pilgrimage to something tangible. Apple stores are clearly profitable, but I wonder if "close to break even" isn't a good enough goal for brand awareness stores like these.

RobotfromOT 11y ago

What? No Jeff Bezos robot?! http://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/joyarchives/2247.html http://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/joyarchives/2247.html

pklausler 11y ago

Looks like a great way to buy a bestseller from Amazon without having to wait for shipping. But it's not going to appeal much to the kind of people who are willing to spend hours wandering the aisles of a real bookstore. One of the things that makes me a very happy Portlander is that Powell's City of Books (http://powells.com http://powells.com) is always crowded with blissed-out bibliophiles perusing the million-plus new+used volumes. But I could be all wrong. I don't understand the business of books at all, because I would think that a store like Powell's would flourish in other literate locations (e.g., Minneapolis / St Paul), and yet it remains sadly unique in the U.S.

Qworg 11y ago
There are other places like Powell's: Haslam's in St. Petersburg, FL - http://www.haslams.com/ http://www.haslams.com/ and others. Edit: Thanks for the location correction - I lived there for five years and should know better. ;)
- pklausler 11y ago
  Thanks so much for the tip. Are new and used volumes shelved together at Haslam's?
  - CapitalistCartr 11y ago
    No, they are in different sections.
- CapitalistCartr 11y ago
  Haslam's is wonderful; I grew up going there. But its across the Bay in St. Petersburg.
malnourish 11y ago
In Minneapolis there's Magers and Quinn
- 11y ago

notatoad 11y ago

>The second advantage is actually a side effect of their limited selection approach. They are essentially offering a pre-selection service to the public. this seems less like "a review of the amazon books store" and more like "an amazon user finds out what a book store is"

hashberry 11y ago

"The central section however is dedicated to various gadgets, mostly created by Amazon itself, such as Echo, Fire TV, Kindle Fire, etc. In this the shop reminded me a little of the Apple Store, which clearly inspired the layout of this section." The focal point of the "amazon books" store is its tech, not books. They are using "book store" as a cover. The U-Village is an upscale shopping experience and easily allows for impulse buys on new $100+ tech products. It's their version of the Apple Store.