Amazon Denies Plans To Open High Street Stores

Amazon, the online retail giant, is in talks with several property dealers in UK to open a chain of physical stores, the Sunday Times has claimed. 

According to the newspaper, the retailer has ‘secret’ plans to open stores in UK’s high streets to attract consumers who want to buy products on the internet then collect the item from a physical store. 

Interestingly, only a handful of retail websites, including Argos and Last Minute offer consumers the opportunity to‘click’ the item online and ‘collect’ it from a physical collect-store.  

Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, is sure to gain a foothold in the ‘click and collect’ market if it decides to enter it as online consumers are growing tired of delayed deliveries due to postal strikes. 

A recent report by IMRG has revealed that online retail sales fell in October by 2 percent and 5 percent in the two weeks when there was a national postal strike that cost the industry £52 million. 

However, Amazon has squashed the rumors about opening ‘brick and mortar’ stores. The Press Association quoted an Amazon spokesman who said that, "We have no plans to open physical stores anywhere in the world."  

Amazon.com has fared better than its competitors during the economic meltdown and still maintains a dominant position in the online retail market. The company has reported a 33 percent rise in its UK sales for last three months up to September.