Amazon expanding its brick-and-mortar presence isn't unusual any more, with bookstores and pop-ups in many locations nationwide. But the e-commerce giant's latest foray into physical retailing has a new twist: 4-star goods, as rated by Amazon customers.
Amazon just opened a physical store in the Soho neighborhood of New York City selling items that received a 4-star rating or higher on its website, and otherwise popular items.
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The store is called Amazon 4-star, and it is on Spring Street between Crosby and Lafayette streets in Manhattan. It is a permanent location, not a pop-up, CNBC reports.
"We started with some of the most popular categories on Amazon.com, including devices, consumer electronics, kitchen, home, toys, books and games, and chose only the products that customers have rated 4 stars and above, or are top sellers, or are new and trending," the company said in a blog post.
According to Amazon, the average rating of all the products at Amazon 4-star is 4.4 stars. Many of the products are also grouped together in specific ways. For example, the "Most-Wished-For" items are products added frequently to Amazon.com Wish Lists. "Trending Around NYC" includes items that greater New York City customers are buying online in large quantities.
Amazon Prime members get better prices in the store. Digital price tags with each product show the Prime price and list price, as well as Prime member savings, average star rating and the total number of reviews a product has received. Customers who aren’t already Prime members can sign up in the store.
The opening comes on the heels of reports that Amazon is considering a move into cashierless stores in a big way, by opening as many as 3,000 Amazon Go stores in the next three years.
Plans have not been finalized because Amazon is still trying to figure out the best model for Amazon Go, which has already opened one location in its home city of Seattle, with plans for two more there and one in Chicago.
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