Amazon’s Expansion Into Department Stores Is All About Surveillance

Now that it’sofficially swallowedthe lion ’s share of online retail cut-rate sale , Amazon is reportedly eyeball ways to corner our offline shopping , too . The Wall Street Journalreportedon Thursday that the e - commerce giant is drumming up plans to open “ several ” department - style stores in a handful of city across the U.S. People familiar with the topic told the paper that these stores would help Amazon “ extend its reach in sales event of clothing , household items , electronics , and other areas . ” It ’s a smart move from Amazon , but also one that would terminate up being a privacy nightmare for a party that ’s seen itsfair shareof scandal in the blank space .

Per the Journal , the first states where these department store are expected to open include Ohio and California . They ’re design to be mid - size , at around 30,000 square infantry — smaller than your ordinary Costco or Walmart , but way larger than the Amazon 4 - ace stores that in the main clock in at around4,000 square feet . Like those 4 - star locations , generator tell the Journal that Amazon ’s individual - label product would be feature front and center in these bigger locations , alongside wares from other “ top consumer mark . ”

The alleged department entrepot spaces are just Amazon ’s latest raid into the brick - and - mortar earth . In 2015 , the party began experimenting withsmall bookstores : first on its Seattle home turf , before trickling out to a few other cities across the U.S. But forall sorts of reason , sales in these bookstores have passably much flatlined in the days since their first appearance . By 2019 , the companydecidedto pen up together these storehouse and the company ’s then - struggling “ pop - up ” shops — essentially shopping center bodegas that trade Amazon - denounce tablets and atomic number 99 - referee . Eighty - seven of those tonic - ups closedessentially overnight . Other existent - world retail efforts like Amazon Go Grocery met similar ends , eithercollapsinginto larger big - box projects from the fellowship orindefinitely closingfor unspecified “ refurbishment . ” Even then , Amazon ’s retail elbow grease have translate intomillions of dollarstaken from numberless competitors that werealready strugglingto pitch themselves against the Es - commerce steamroller .

Photo: Denis Charlet (Getty Images)

But if themultipleongoingfederal probesinto Amazon ’s antimonopoly - y behavior have shown us anything , it ’s that the company wo n’t be slaked until it dominates every sale , not just most of them . right on now , the bulk of Amazon ’s real - mankind retail dollar mark are coming from its myriadgrocery chains , including Whole Foods . But the troupe still lags behind its brick and mortar brethren when it comes to sellinghigh - goal fashion , or basic cosmetic andhealth goods — think toothpaste or bottles of shampoo . In June , reports emergedthat the society was mulling plan to spread out its own Amazon - post physical retail chemist’s shop , which would help the troupe crater competitors like Walmart or CVS thatcurrently rulethe worldly concern of retail - ized health care .

Amazon ’s section entrepot push would also help the company compete with two of its tech giant brother : Facebook and Google , which together dominatemore than halfof the multibillion - dollar digital ad ecosystem . Amazon ranks in a distant third office by earning 10 % of that spend , but that number’sskyrocketing fast — and a lot of that boom boils down to data .

Amazon ’s always collected data on its shoppers and trafficker , but the past few years have seen the company make aserious pushto woo adman away from platforms like Instagram and YouTube . And that woo work because Amazon could offer what those program could n’t : data about every purchase , every lookup , and every wishlist fromevery Amazon customer .

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An Amazon - branded department store would potentially bring those dollar back into Amazon ’s air pocket , and then some . Amazon ’s past brick - and - howitzer efforts have show up that the company is n’t afraid to collect as much datum as potential from people who walk through its door — even if that soul does n’t end up buying anything at all . Amazon knows theaisles you ’re shop , the item you’repicking upfrom a shelf , and whether your buys wereinfluencedby an ad you see on Amazon ’s site . It knows how often you patronize for groceries , whether you ’re a vegetarian , and if you might be run low on eggs this week — which is expectant for Amazon and its advertiser partners , but a seclusion nightmare for consumers that already haveample reasonto be weirded out over Amazon ’s data garner pattern .

Right now , Amazon ’s future plan in the existent - world retail blank are mostly confined to hearsay — but they still paint a damnatory photograph . A world where Amazon department stores and Amazon pharmacy are the norm is one where Amazon eff every prescription you take , not to bring up all the purchases we might need to keep hushed from everyone — our maternity tests , bottleful of fuzz dyestuff , tawdry magazines . If Amazon really wants to know how often I ’m buying a box of “ womanly hygienics ” product or something equally classy , they ’re welcome to try finding out . But I ’d really rather keep those details to myself .

We ’ve reached out to Amazon about the Journal ’s report and will update this post when we hear back .

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