Amazon denies high street rumours
Online retailer Amazon denies claims that it is considering opening high street stores to sell larger items, reports The Daily Telegraph.
The article continues:
Amazon has scotched rumours that it plans to open a chain of high street shops to supplement its web presence. The Sunday Times reported that the online retailer was looking to cash in on the rising popularity of “click and collect” services, where customers place an order online but pick up the item in store.
Rival retailers, such as Argos and John Lewis, already operate similar services, with Argos stating that 18% of its internet sales are bought online and collected from stores.
But an Amazon spokesman said: “We have no plans to open physical retail stores anywhere in the world.”
The recent Royal Mail postal strikes have highlighted the fragility of mail-order businesses. Amazon has also diversified beyond its traditional product lines of books, CDs and DVDs to sell larger and more expensive items, and some experts suggest that a click-and-collect service might be more suitable for those items.
The Sunday Times quoted a source close to the discussions, who said: “When Amazon was just selling books and CDs that fitted easily through the letterbox, it was fine to be a web-only business. But now it has branched out in to everything from children’s bikes to electricals, it believes it could boost sales by having stores that offer a collection point for shoppers.”
Amazon, which was founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos, so far appears to have weathered the recent financial storm. Sales across the Seattle-based company’s international arm, which includes the UK, rose by 33% to $2.6bn (£1.6bn) between July and September.
