TJ Fabian | CNBC
Amazon’s first New York City bookstore, Amazon Books, before its May 25, 2017 opening near Columbus Circle in Manhattan. Customers can check out the traditional way or with the Amazon app.
Using a camera within the app, consumers can scan their purchases, opting to either have them shipped or scanned by the cashier. There’s also an electronics section with Amazon’s Kindles and Echos, and more technology-inspired products are coming, including more integration with audiobooks on Audible, Cast said.
Amazon first made its name selling books, but the bookstores are far from its only brick-and-mortar experiment. The company also has plans for convenience stores and grocery stores that use cutting-edge technologies like computer vision.
Amazon’s new store, which opens at 10 a.m. ET on
Analysts say that Amazon stands to benefit most from some of the pain in the retail industry. Cantor Fitzgerald Amazon analyst Naved Khan noted that store closures announcements this year are two times higher than a year ago, amid competitive advantages for Amazon.
Publishers also complain that as more books appear on Amazon, it’s harder to pay authors and dampens demand for risky or unusual books.
But Cast said the “small but great” store represents Amazon’s philosophy of using “data with heart.” Rather than rely on just a few book store employees to cater to everyone’s taste, “we let our customers be the voice,” Cast said.
