With much irony, Amazon’s new strategy to target the millennials is to open a brick and mortar book store, Amazon Books. Sales of e-reader devices have been declining, so in addition to selling books, this store will act as a marketing platform for customers to try out their Kindle and Fire Tablet devices. This is certainly an interesting maneuver, contradictory of our societal trends towards e-commerce.

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I disagree with Michael that Amazon Books will be able to differentiate themselves from their competitors because of their large online database to determine which books to stock. Book retailers such as Indigo and Barnes & Noble will, of course, have similar metrics to determine the popularity of books and predict sales. Customer reviews and ratings are not new to this market.

I think Amazon’s success comes from the convenience, comfort, and accessibility from ordering books or products online. Because Amazon is an e-commerce retailer, the brand itself may lack buzz to entice buyers from the comfort of their homes into their stores. However, this may be a strategic decision to target a different customer segment: ones enjoy browsing displays and see shopping as social experience.