Amazon may soon take another leap into the world of brick-and-mortar retail.
According to Bloomberg, the company has been in talks with RadioShack about acquiring at least some stores from the ailing retail chain. The stores would become showcases for Amazon’s own products, such as the Kindle e-readers and tablets, and serve as pick-up and drop-off sites for Amazon customers.
RadioShack is on the verge of declaring bankruptcy, and according to other reports, it has also been in talks with wireless carrier Sprint about selling some of its stores. The deal with Amazon may not happen, but nonetheless, it shows where Amazon is headed.
To head off competition from Wal-Mart—one of the few retailers that could pose a legitimate threat to Amazon—and to expand its operation, the company has adopted a new hybrid business model, combining e-commerce with offline services.
Amazon has already built a small physical presence across the country with its Locker program, which enables customers to pick-up packages at 7-Eleven stores and other locations—including RadioShack stores at one time, though the chain dropped out of the program. Meanwhile, it’s moving into same-day delivery, running its own grocery delivery service and even offering one-hour delivery for certain products in Manhatten. Rumors also indicate it will soon open a flagship retail space in Manhattan.
As we’ve put it before, the point of an Amazon store isn’t really to provide a new place to shop. It would be a way for Amazon to market its own products and services, including the Kindle and Amazon Prime, and to run a distribution center for its same-day delivery services.
Acquiring some RadioShack’s locations could fit with that strategy, giving Amazon a way to quickly extend its footprint into hundreds more U.S. cities. But that doesn’t mean it’ll happen. Amazon could benefit from an existing supply chain for piping goods into and out of a series of low-rent physical locations. But given that Amazon has its own hyper-customized logistics practices, it could be hard for it to absorb another company’s processes.
But the fact that Amazon is even interested in acquiring part of a brick and mortar chain shows just how much the retail business, both online and off, has changed in recent years.
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