Amazon has opened a new physical store, which it brands “4-star”, in the Westfield Centre in White City, London.

The retail giant’s new outlet will cover 5,000 feet and sell a variety of goods from Amazon’s online offering.

These goods, which include books, games, and toys have all been rated four stars or above by consumers according to the retail giant.

The outlet will also offer click-and-collect services and enable consumers to return goods.

In addition, the new outlet will sell the full range of Amazon branded electronic devices, including Kindle e-Readers, Fire Tablets, and Echo Dots, which will be available to demo in-store.

The news comes after the retail giant launched a similar “4-star” branded store in the Bluewater Shopping Centre, Kent in early October.

The retail giant has also been aggressively rolling out 'Amazon Fresh' stores equipped with cashier-less checkout technology.

Amazon launched stores with this “Just Walk Out” technology in Camden, Ealing, Wembley Park, White City (in a separate outlet), Canary Wharf, and Dalston during 2021.

The company has also announced plans to launch new checkout-free locations in Holborn and Chingford in London.

Amazon is not the only BigTech eyeing moves into physical retail; Meta, formerly known as Facebook, was reported to be interested in opening outlets by the Wall Street Journal earlier this week.

“Since opening our first Amazon 4-star store in Bluewater, we’ve heard how much customers love to discover new products, test devices, and see what’s trending locally,” said Andy Jones, director at Amazon 4-star UK.

“ ‘Digital Bricks’, the creation of physical stores with technology at the core, is a growth area for our category mix,” said Kate Orwin, leasing director at landlord Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield. “Our ‘How We Shop – What’s Changed’ research revealed that 89 per cent of Londoners are interested in in-store shopping technology and innovations and we know that our customers are looking for new and exciting retail experiences - this is another example of how we’re delivering that.”

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