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Amazon's bookshop bridges physical and digital worlds

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I'll happily admit that it's probably been almost a decade since I last purchased a book from a physical retail outlet. Whilst in my teenage years I'd spent the best part of an afternoon every weekend perusing my local book and record stores for my next fix, as the internet became a more powerful and convenient platform from which to feed my habits, the appeal of leaving the safe cocoon of my bedroom to venture out into town seemed less and less appealing. Now, I don't even have that option, as those local stores I once treasured so much have now surrendered to the stains of time. Well, they've actually all become either mobile phone or coffee shops, but, same difference. Either way, I genuinely lament the passing of the local bookshop, so I was pleasantly surprised when I learned that one of the major heralds of its demise had logged off and joined the physical retail world for the first time. I'm talking, of course, about “Amazon Books.”

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A physical Amazon bookshop has opened for the first time at Seattle’s University Village

Yes, on tuesday morning (November 3) a physical Amazon bookshop opened for the first time at Seattle’s University Village, as part of an initiative the online retail behemoth describes (rather pretentiously) as a “Physical extension of Amazon.com.” The books in the Amazon Books store, the concept for which was developed by Amazon’s in-house design team working with a few currently unnamed external partners, are selected based on their customer ratings, pre-orders, sales, popularity, and the store curators’ individual assessments. Amazon says each book will be displayed face-out and under each one will be a review card with an Amazon.com customer rating and a review. It's not just about books either, as customers will also be able to test Amazon devices, such as the Kindle, Echo, Fire TV and Fire Tablet.

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The concept for the store was developed by Amazon’s in-house design team working with a few currently unnamed external partners

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Amazon Books vice-president Jennifer Cast, said: “We’ve applied 20 years of online book selling experience to build a store that integrates the benefits of offline and online shopping. Amazon Books is a store without walls – there are thousands of books available in store and millions more available at Amazon.com, and Prices at Amazon Books are the same as prices offered by Amazon.com, so you’ll never need to compare our online and in-store prices.” Sounds promising, but is it really necessary? Especially considering the fact that Amazon drone delivery services are just around the corner, and certain areas can already take advantage of same-day delivery.

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The first Amazon Store opened on the Purdue University campus in Indiana earlier this year

Of course, whilst this is the first dedicated Amazon Books retail store, the company has already been making forays into physical stores for some time, with the first physical Amazon Store opening on the Purdue University campus in Indiana earlier this year. That outlet, which quite closely resembled an Apple store given a yellow and brown makeover, was designed for customers to pick up and drop off packages with the target market being students ordering textbooks and other essentials. The store has proven to be a surprise success, but then we're talking about a University here, and from the images, the store resembles a library more than a traditional retail store. Whether or not this model would work outside of the specific and introverted University sphere remains to be seen, but I personally hope it takes off, if only because, as an Amazon Prime member, I'd probably be treated like royalty. At least that's what I'm choosing to believe anyway.

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Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer and struggling musician from Kidderminster in the UK who has probably spent more at Amazon in the last decade than he has on groceries.

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