Amazon mulls opening discount retail stores

Bloomberg

Amazon.com Inc has explored opening discount retail stores selling a mix of home goods and electronics, a potentially significant expansion of the company’s growing portfolio of brick-and-mortar locations.
The outlets would carry unsold inventory sitting in Amazon’s warehouses at steep discounts, according to two people familiar with the plans. The company has considered opening permanent stores, as well as pop-up locations in malls or parking lots, said the people.
The plans were preliminary and under discussion last year, but the pandemic and new Fresh grocery chain forced many employees to focus on day-to-day operations.
“It’s a way to be able to clean out warehouses, and get through inventory without having to destroy it,” said one of the people, who was briefed on the plans but not authorised to discuss them.
“It is keeping with the value proposition of Amazon,
keeping price at the forefront and allowing customers to
get access to products at low cost.” Amazon declined to comment.
In its hunt for further growth after reaching a commanding position in many categories of online retail, Amazon has built a sizable brick-and-mortar operation in the last several years, beginning with a chain of bookstores, which debuted in 2015 at an upscale Seattle mall.
Amazon Go, a cashierless convenience store that uses cameras and other sensors to track what shoppers take off the shelf, opened to the public in 2018.
So did Amazon 4-Star, an electronics, home goods and toys bazaar that sells a potpourri of highly rated and bestselling items.
Amazon Fresh began opening stores last year and has been adding new locations at a steady clip.
Amazon today operates 96 physical stores and seven mall pop-ups under its own brand, according to its website. Whole Foods Market, acquired in 2017, has more than 500 grocery stores.