Seattle, WA – Yes, you read that right, Amazon the company that started out as an online bookstore is now building stores. You may have read a little about this in one of our latest consumer trends called “Books Make a Comeback.” Since we published the trend Amazon has recently opened their first physical Amazon bookstore on February 2 in Seattle.
This new store has a few big strengths like the covers facing outward and the reviews gathered by their online audience placed alongside each book. This is an obvious design choice that helped the Amazon online bookstore make it’s mark when it reinvented the way consumers browsed a bookshelf. The organization of the books is also something to note. They are organized similar to the way greeting cards are organized, according to the shopper’s needs. “Gifts for Mom” and “Gift for Teenagers” are accompanied by quoted reviews taken from the online store. This takes a little bit of the guess work out of picking that perfect book.
While some of this experience isn’t exactly new in the retail world, the biggest experience change is: no prices. Every book in the store has a small placard underneath it with a barcode. Shoppers are encouraged to scan the prices with their phones because all of the prices are the same as they are on Amazon.com. And Amazon has carried this reinvented experience all the way to the register as well. If a customer’s credit card is associated with their Amazon account the book they just bought is tracked in their Amazon account and their receipt is emailed.
It is these little changes to the experience of brick and mortar shopping that make a physical Amazon bookstore make sense. We will see if this will be another success for Amazon as they continue to roll out up to 400 stores.
About the Author:
As Managing Director of Innovation and Insights for Syneos Health Communications, Leigh is responsible for building and scaling a global team of healthcare experts who together help life science leaders better understand the complex lives, influences and expectations of their customers. Specifically, they uncover actionable insights that fuel empathy and creativity; lead co-creation events that let marketers learn from peers, trends, and new possibilities; and help clients identify the most valuable and useful new customer experiences to create.
Leigh has worked with Fortune 1000 companies to craft their digital, mobile, social and CRM strategies for nearly 20 years.She’s worked for category-leading agencies in retail, public affairs, B2B technology, and higher education. Prior to moving to Syneos Health Communications, she held several leadership roles at our largest agency, GSW. There, she founded an innovation practice fueled by the zeitgeist and spearheaded digital and innovation thinking across the business.
Leigh has taken a special interest in complex healthcare products that can change lives in meaningful ways. She was recently a strategic lead on the 3rd largest launch in pharmaceutical history: Tecfidera. Before that she had keys roles with Eli Lilly Oncology, Abbott Nutrition, Amgen Cardiovascular, and Eli Lilly Diabetes.
A critical part of Leigh’s work is trends and new ideas. Every year, she convenes a group of trend watchers from across our global network to identify the shifts most critical to healthcare marketers. This year, she led over 250 experts to experts to focus on the most important changes in the commercial, consumer, marketing, digital and healthcare landscapes. (See reports at trends.health)
Leigh is a sought-after writer and speaker. Recognized as one of the most inspiring people in the pharmaceutical industry by PharmaVoice and Top 10 Innovation Catalysts of 2017 by MM&M, Leigh also was recognized as a Rising Star by the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association (HBA) for her overt passion, industry thought leadership and significant contributions in new business, strategy and mentoring.
