Amazon opens its first 4-star physical store outside the US in England

LONDON (AP) – Amazon on Wednesday opened its first “4-star” physical store outside the United States in a shopping center in Britain where it will sell the online retailer’s most popular products, such as books, toys and consumer electronics. consumer.

The US company said the store is called “4-star” because it sells products rated 4 stars or higher by customers. The retailer said it uses data from its online business to choose which products are popular with local shoppers, so the items displayed in the store will change regularly.

Amazon launched the physical store model in 2018 in the United States, where it already has several dozen.

The company said it had planned to open stores at Bluewater Shopping Center in Kent, south-east of London, for two years prior to the pandemic.

“The pandemic hasn’t really changed our thinking. We’ve seen the model work very well in shopping malls across the United States,” said Andy Jones, Amazon’s 4-Star UK director.

“There are Amazon products that (customers) expect, but there are also local products from smaller suppliers, because that’s a big part of Amazon’s business,” he said.

Jones declined to disclose whether Amazon has plans to open more 4-star stores in the UK.

The company opened its first UK grocery store, Amazon Fresh, in London last year. He said the model had been “well received” since its opening and that they now have six such stores in the British capital.