Amazon wants to open stores in Germany

In the future, Amazon wants to open physical stores in Germany, similar to the stores it opened in the United States. According to Ralf Kleber, VP Germany at Amazon.com, it’s not a question of whether, but when this will happen.

“Customers love diversity online and in the traditional retail industry. That industry still accounts for 90 to 95 percent of sales in Germany and we will never forget what the customer wants”, he told the Morgenpost.

Amazon has experience with physical stores

In the US, Amazon has been experimenting with the concept of brick-and-mortar stores for some time now. It opened several bookstores, campus bookstores that don’t sell books and a convenience store without cashiers. And last summer, the ecommerce giant acquired supermarket chain Whole Foods for over 12 billion euros.

Centralized delivery hub in urban areas

According to the Morgenpost, Amazon also has the option to introduce a centralized delivery hub in urban areas, with participation from delivery services such as DHL or Hermes. “We are trying to find the ideal mix, which we can later  offer the customer. That can also be uniform delivery”, Kleber explains. There are plans to relieve the city centers from traffic, generated by the delivery of products ordered online.

Amazon will not introduce a special fee for delivery to the customer’s home, instead of free pick-up in a parcel shop. About such considerations of parcel services Hermes and DPD, Kleber says: “I don’t comment on that, but we call ourselves the inventors of free shipping. Amazon Prime has been around for ten years now and our customers like it.”