It only takes up a torque square feet, a small fraction of the size of Amazon’s first real bookstore in Seattle, order the company has-been quietly making Reviews another foray into physical retail – Offering individual ebook gift cards for sale under a pilot program at Bartell Drugs in Washington state
Details of the 61-store test Were confirmed last week by Nate Hoffelder of The Digital Reader news site, and I found one of the “Kindle eBooks” kiosks tucked entre displays of Valentine’s Day candy at my local Bartell Drugs store in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood this weekend.
Perhaps tellingly, Even Though the kiosk Was well-Positioned Toward the front of the store, none of the three spoke with INITIALLY employed I Knew I Was talking about what When I Asked If They sold individual Kindle ebook gift cards. (INITIALLY They Told me They Did not.)
Goal I ended up spotting it on my own, and Bought a pair cards to test the service.
The top row of the kiosk features cards for three- and six-month memberships Kindle Unlimited, for $ 29.99 and $ 49.99 each. Below Those are cards featuring the covers of 20 individual ebooks, bestsellers across Both fiction and nonfiction, ranging from “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” and Sheryl Sandberg’s “Lean In” to Dan Brown’s “Inferno” and “The Martian “by Andy Weir.
On the back of Each ebook card is a quote from an Amazon customer review and a summary of the book, along with an area for writing a post to the container and instructions for redeeming the book by scratching off the claim code and going to a dedicated Amazon url to enter it.
Purchasing the card at the Bartell Drugs register automatically Activates it for use, as with a standard gift card.
Here’s the Most Interesting hand: Any of the cards can be aussi Treated as a regular Amazon gift card, if your gift recipient Does not like the book you anything for ‘em, or already owns the title you picked. In –other words, it offers the personalization of a hand-picked gift with the flexibility of a regular gift card. – Amazon Reviews another example of blending the best of physical and digital retail
The card promises That you’ll always get “the lowest online price, plus the balance.” For example, I purchased a card for “The Martian” for $ 14.99 at the store, order the price online Was $ 8.99, and when to I Redeemed the book, The Difference Was automatically added to my gift card balance.
After That I really Deciding About did not want a 3-month membership Kindle Unlimited (Previously I tested the subscription service and found I did not use That it as much as I planned) I Was ble to add the $ 29.99 Entire That balance from card to my gift card balance. Everything Worked smoothly.
This is the latest example of Amazon testing out new initiatives in physical retail, intended as Noted by the Digital Reader’s Hoffelder, the company is not the first to try this concept. Most –other e-book sellers who’ve gone down this path-have not seen much success.
Whether it turns out to be worthwhile for Amazon remains to be seen. Even During The checkout process, the concept Was Clearly a novelty to the Bartell Drugs employed at my local store, Perhaps indicating indication That They Have not-been selling a lot since the October launch.
We’ve contacted Amazon for more details on the pilot, and to see if it Will Be expanded to additional stores and regions.
