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Post by Daniel on Nov 5, 2015 8:14:14 GMT -5
I'm sure everyone has heard that Amazon opened a store in Seattle by now. This article gives a hint of what the store is like... Inside Amazon's First Physical BookstoreI would have liked a deeper exploration of the shopping experience, but the article covers the basics. If I'm reading the stocking selection criteria correctly, indies have a level playing field in a physical bookstore for the first time. Amazon supposedly stock based on book rankings and ratings (no books below a 4* rating). One of the photos shows a display that highlights books with a 4.8* rating or higher. The photo isn't clear enough to make out if indie titles are included, but I doubt Amazon would exclude them for being indie. I'm sure indies will be somewhat under-represented because many of us don't even have a paperback edition, and those of us who do get 1% or less of our sales in paperback (even when our books are popular on Kindle). Still, this new kind of bookstore is encouraging. |
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Post by ameliasmith on Nov 5, 2015 9:02:51 GMT -5
I checked out the article. The bookstore looks very ordinary, and I have to say I do not like the whole smartphone-to-get-prices thing. I don't own a smartphone (I know, total freak, here), and even if I did I'm not sure I'd be comfortable sticking the two ways of shopping together like that.
If I were in Seattle I'm sure I'd go check it out, though, and I wouldn't mind seeing more Amazon bookstores in other places.
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Post by scdaffron on Nov 5, 2015 9:17:10 GMT -5
I don't own a smartphone (I know, total freak, here) You're not the only one. Right there with ya in total freakitude  |
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Post by Miss Terri Novelle on Nov 5, 2015 9:57:59 GMT -5
I checked out the article. The bookstore looks very ordinary, and I have to say I do not like the whole smartphone-to-get-prices thing. I don't own a smartphone (I know, total freak, here), and even if I did I'm not sure I'd be comfortable sticking the two ways of shopping together like that. If I were in Seattle I'm sure I'd go check it out, though, and I wouldn't mind seeing more Amazon bookstores in other places. I was just going to say the exact same thing. How annoying would that be? Having to get an employee to find out the price of every book if you didn't want to use your phone or didn't have one...ugh. That being said, I'm happy to see any bookstore open--anywhere, even if their pricing is annoying. I miss Borders. |
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Post by Becca Mills on Nov 5, 2015 11:32:16 GMT -5
If these stores catch on and spread, reviews are going to become way, way, waaaaay more important, due to the 4-star cut-off Daniel mentioned. Let's say you've got a good-selling 10-book series, but Book 1 has been free and promoted heavily and has a 3.9. Your paperbacks probably won't appear in the stores. Major temptation to buy some reviews, eh?
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Post by Daniel on Nov 5, 2015 11:59:22 GMT -5
Actually, they have price checking kiosks around the store, so you don't have to ask for help. Still, it's annoying to have to scan the book (using whatever means) just to get a price. I'll bet that becomes one of their biggest complaints. Given that they want the prices to be fluid and match Amazon.com, I'm not sure how they'll fix it.
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Post by Becca Mills on Nov 5, 2015 12:50:32 GMT -5
Actually, they have price checking kiosks around the store, so you don't have to ask for help. Still, it's annoying to have to scan the book (using whatever means) just to get a price. I'll bet that becomes one of their biggest complaints. Given that they want the prices to be fluid and match Amazon.com, I'm not sure how they'll fix it. If the kiosks were very numerous -- like, a small laser scanner on every bookcase -- it might not be a big deal. Plus, what percentage of people don't have a smart phone, nowadays? I've just come off two years without one, and outside of my spouse's, I don't think I saw another "dumb" phone in someone's hand the whole time. Edited: Answered my own question: "Nearly two-thirds of American adults (64%) now own a smartphone of some kind, up from 58% in early 2014. Smartphone ownership has increased by 29 percentage points since Pew Research conducted its first survey of smartphone ownership in the spring of 2011, when 35% of Americans were smartphone owners." ( source) So ... not as high a percentage as I thought. |
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Post by ameliasmith on Nov 5, 2015 15:27:28 GMT -5
Edited: Answered my own question: "Nearly two-thirds of American adults (64%) now own a smartphone of some kind, up from 58% in early 2014. Smartphone ownership has increased by 29 percentage points since Pew Research conducted its first survey of smartphone ownership in the spring of 2011, when 35% of Americans were smartphone owners." ( source) So ... not as high a percentage as I thought. I just saw somewhere else, within the past few days, that it's more like 84%, but maybe that was just for my demographic. I can't find it now, of course. I know people give me funny looks when they see my old flip phone, but on the up side I never pocket dial people, and it's way cheaper. |
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Post by Daniel on Nov 5, 2015 17:44:58 GMT -5
No smartphones in this house. My mom and step-father don't have one either. My brother and sister and all my nephews do, but they are deeply into video entertainment. They rarely read books.
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Post by scdaffron on Nov 5, 2015 19:28:17 GMT -5
No smartphones in this house. My father is mystified by my lack of smart phone. But the other day he tripped on the sidewalk because he was looking at his phone. The smart phone is fine, but he broke his nose. Worst selfie ever, Dad. |
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Post by Becca Mills on Nov 6, 2015 14:40:28 GMT -5
No smartphones in this house. My father is mystified by my lack of smart phone. But the other day he tripped on the sidewalk because he was looking at his phone. The smart phone is fine, but he broke his nose. Worst selfie ever, Dad. Oh no!!  |
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Post by Alan Petersen on Nov 11, 2015 13:35:37 GMT -5
No smartphones in this house. My father is mystified by my lack of smart phone. But the other day he tripped on the sidewalk because he was looking at his phone. The smart phone is fine, but he broke his nose. Worst selfie ever, Dad. Ouch! That's a pet-peeve of mine. I have a smartphone and all, but it's challenging enough to maneuver crowded sidewalks and streets with the smartphone zombies transfixed on their phone screen, full-on, head down, not paying attention. There was a girl killed in my neighborhood a year or two ago. Headphones in, staring at her phone, while crossing the street. She was in the crosswalk. She had the right away, but that didn't help when she didn't see the bus coming that ran her over. |
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