Aly Weisman/Business InsiderAmazon's first physical store in Seattle.
Amazon changed the way we shop online. Now it wants to reinvent the way we shop at brick-and-mortar stores.
Amazon opened its first physical bookstore in Seattle in the fall, but recent reports suggest its retail ambitions could be much bigger, including stores in other product categories.
Why would Amazon want to get into the space it has been trying to destroy for years?
For one, there's still a huge audience that prefers to shop at retail stores.
But perhaps more important, it's because the retail shopping experience hasn't changed for decades. Amazon is known for trying new things, and it could use its technology and massive amount of user data to come up with a new way of shopping in-store.
Here are a few things that need to be fixed at traditional retail stores and how Amazon could possibly change them.
Checkout lines: No one likes long checkout lines. Amazon is reportedly working on an app that will charge customers automatically without having them stop by a checkout counter.
Source: Re/code
Product reviews: It's impossible to find out what others think about a product you're about to buy at normal retail stores without looking online. But Amazon has tons of product reviews on its website, and it could display them next to each item in its retail store. Amazon's first physical bookstore already does it.
Source: Business Insider
Dynamic pricing: If you have ever wondered whether the store across town has a better deal, Amazon has a way to fix it. Amazon's bookstore offers up-to-the-minute pricing that reflects the latest price on Amazon.com, so people don't have to worry about missing out on better deals. It's why Amazon's bookstore doesn't show each product's price.
Recommendations: At retail stores you're on your own to find what might interest you. Amazon could change that by displaying related products next to one another based on the sales data it collects online. It could take it a step further by sending individual recommendations through an app based on each user's Amazon purchase history.
Discount offers: Same goes for discounts. Sometimes it's hard to find what products are on promotion, so Amazon could send individual discount alerts through an app, based on the customer's purchase history.
Product placement: Since Amazon already has tons of customer data, broken down by region, it could showcase popular products more prominently depending on the store's location.
Digital assistant: It's often hard to find sales associates at regular retailers when you have questions. Amazon could solve this by making Echo, its voice-activated digital assistant, available throughout its retail stores so customers could quickly get answers to any questions they might have.
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