Amazon's first counterattack is expected to open at the end of the year

Recently, the Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon, the world's largest online retailer, will open its first physical retail store, which will be located in Manhattan, New York, and is expected to open at the end of this year.

For the test retail entity, Amazon has not commented yet.

The industry pointed out that although the company has not yet acknowledged, in the face of new delivery models such as physical retailing and experiential services such as in-store self-acquisition, Amazon has already been threatened. Opening physical retail stores cannot be avoided and must be done.

Amazon did not comment

The Wall Street Journal reported that the store opened by Amazon will facilitate consumer self-collection and exchange of online orders, and may eventually evolve into a shop for Amazon e-readers, tablets, and mobile phones. The report also said that the store also has a mini-warehouse function, where Amazon's order items from New York will be issued from here.

In addition, UberGizmo, a US technology blogger, also reported that the store is located in the flourishing area of ​​34th Street between the Empire State Building in Manhattan and the Macy's flagship store.

However, for the above report, Amazon has not given a comment.

If the establishment of a physical store at the end of the year is true, then as an online retailer, what is the significance of Amazon's opening of offline stores?

Since the establishment of a retail website in Seattle more than 20 years ago, Amazon has been starting to sell books, and now it has become the most complete global retail giant. However, the sweetness of online retail does not seem to satisfy Amazon. Rumors about its expansion of its offline business have been uninterrupted. In fact, Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos has never denied the role of offline stores, and he once said that Amazon is very keen to open a physical store and will strive to create “a completely different experience” for customers.

At the level of integration with physical retail, Amazon also has some practices. Amazon’s Kindle products are currently available at Best Buy, Target, and other retail stores. However, companies such as Barnes, Noble Bookstore, and indigo books and music are currently boycotting Amazon and refuse to sell Amazon-published books in their retail stores. These companies claim that Amazon has destroyed the entire publishing industry by signing exclusive cooperation agreements with writers, agents and publishers.

The integration of online and offline channels is a trend

At present, the cross-infiltration between e-commerce and logistics and the traditional retail industry has become more frequent. In the past year, many physical retailers have stepped up the introduction of new shopping models that allow consumers to take online orders in their stores. Take Target, Wal-Mart, etc. as an example, it also began to ship directly from the physical store to complete online orders. This change can shorten the delivery time from the process.

The new delivery models and in-store pickup services launched by established retailers have threatened Amazon’s plans to dominate the market. On this basis, Amazon is bound to strive for the first-mover advantage in improving the user shopping experience.

Some people point out that physical retail stores will be a bold attempt for Amazon to acquire new sources of profits. Many consumers prefer to do first-hand experiences before purchasing products.

In the opinion of analysts, offline stores will promote healthy competition for “cooperative” and Amazon will be able to collect more consumer shopping preferences. However, there are also points of view that Amazon's establishment of physical stores will be a brand promotion more meaningful than the actual significance.

Ereli analyst Wang Yaqian told Daily Economic News that Amazon’s physical presence is reasonable. Amazon started with retail, but its valuation, profit, etc. did not come from the retail business. Its overall strategy is to develop more other businesses based on a larger turnover. "Retail is the foundation, but the profit point is not retail."

An e-commerce industry analyst pointed out that once Amazon began to force the establishment of physical stores, its most important starting point also includes the consideration of online and offline channel integration. The source believes that Amazon's physical stores will be more than just traditional retail stores, but stores with retail, warehousing, distribution and self-raising elements.

Wang Yaqian said that the integration of online and offline is a trend. Since its establishment, Amazon has obtained a large amount of transactions through the Internet. However, it is not an industry's normal development rule to leave the line. He said that although it will increase costs, Amazon opened a physical retail store can not be avoided and must do, "in the future, the integration of the entire Internet and offline will be closer and closer, this is a major trend."