If they get into selling other people's stuff in person, they then have to compete with other people in the area on those prices, deal with support for those devices when they break. They also have to deal with all the attendant supply chain issues, etc.
Supply chain for a warehouse is different than supply chain for the store. If too many people in alabama want something tomorrow that isn't in alabama warehouse, they overnight it from vegas and pay the price. If too many people show up to buy something in the store in alabama, they are simply out of stock. In one case, they make a sale and pay a little more overhead. In the other case, they probably don't make the sale.
Additionally, right now their support is limited to "we click buttons, you repack stuff, and we ask UPS to take stuff back to us". The average brick and mortar store provides a lot more support than that.
They already deal with a lot of this for kindle products, but not other peoples.
For other people's products, I can't see them wanting to get into this business, it's a rathole, and only serves to help others more than them :)
I don't think they will get into the business of selling tvs in a big box, for example, right up until best buy dies.
I think they are perfectly happy with "people try stuff, then buy it on amazon", and i don't see why they wouldn't be.
In short, i have trouble seeing why they would want to be a big box in the future. Their entire business model is based around the idea that being a big box is inefficient.
I guess I am being too optimistic. I really enjoyed reading that response, and you brought to mind a lot of things I just didn't really consider. Supporting other peoples devices would be a hassle, and a huge undertaking who does zero of that currently. Since you've debunked my theories :), rethinking it maybe it's just a great way to advertise, and get people touch, and feel the phone in person with a great salesperson next to them. The article I think said it is suppose to be up before the holiday season. And why run a test store in New York, New York? I wouldn't ever suggest doing a test run in an extremely high end area like that. Maybe it's up for Nov, Dec, Jan.. and than disappears.
Supply chain for a warehouse is different than supply chain for the store. If too many people in alabama want something tomorrow that isn't in alabama warehouse, they overnight it from vegas and pay the price. If too many people show up to buy something in the store in alabama, they are simply out of stock. In one case, they make a sale and pay a little more overhead. In the other case, they probably don't make the sale.
Additionally, right now their support is limited to "we click buttons, you repack stuff, and we ask UPS to take stuff back to us". The average brick and mortar store provides a lot more support than that.
They already deal with a lot of this for kindle products, but not other peoples.
For other people's products, I can't see them wanting to get into this business, it's a rathole, and only serves to help others more than them :)
I don't think they will get into the business of selling tvs in a big box, for example, right up until best buy dies. I think they are perfectly happy with "people try stuff, then buy it on amazon", and i don't see why they wouldn't be.
In short, i have trouble seeing why they would want to be a big box in the future. Their entire business model is based around the idea that being a big box is inefficient.