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Amazon Expands Its Offline Presence With Pop-Up Shops In Malls

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Amazon is taking its offline game to more locations across the country, as it moves to grow a large network of pop-up shops in malls, The Verge reports.

The e-commerce giant has a massive brick-and-mortar flagship store in Seattle, with three more planned for Chicago, Portland, Oregon and San Diego. But its pop-up shops will be different and on a smaller scale, selling Amazon brand consumer electronics instead of books. These will include products from Kindle and Amazon Fire, as well as Amazon Tap speakers, the Fire TV set-top box, and other accessories.

Pop-up shops, in retail terms, are open-air stores in malls and shopping centers that stay for a short time before moving on to a different location. Pop-ups measure from 300 to 500 square feet, and Amazon has chosen to incorporate their brand name into the term as Amazon Pop-Ups.

The shops are manned by Amazon Pop-Up experts who provide advice, demos, and setup on devices.

Electronics can be tested and tried as well, and prices at these stores will always be the same as those online, including promos and specials.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos mentioned in May that the company would be moving forward aggressively with its retail expansion. There are now 22 Amazon Pop-Ups in 12 states, with more expected. Business Insider reports that the virtual market company intends to have 30 pop-ups by the end of this year and as many as 100 by 2017.

Amazon Pop-Ups are meant to promote brand awareness and allow consumers to experience Amazon devices firsthand, as well as give the company insight on which sales strategies work best in the offline environment. Amazon hopes that the physical stores will help drive sales up online as well off, saying, “We offer pop-up kiosks so that customers can try out all our new devices and learn about our services like Prime and unique content like Amazon Originals.”

Bezos says the company will be educating itself along the way, adding, “In these early days it’s all about learning, rather than trying to earn a lot of revenue.”

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