Amazon mulls high street presence with 'click and collect' stores

Amazon has been speaking to property landlords around the country in its efforts to locate high profile sites, The Sunday Times said.

If the move happens, and Amazon has denied it is setting up physical stores, it would likely emulate ‘check and reserve’, a similar system run by Argos, which recently announced a 100% year-on-year increase for the service.

Although online retailers have increased market share year on year, there are signs consumers are growing impatient with delays created by recent postal strikes.

Recent IMRG figures for online retail sales for October showed sales fell 2% and 5% during the weeks when there was a strike, costing the sector an estimated £52m.

An Amazon presence on the high street would potentially make it a direct replacement for Borders, which went into administration last month.

The recession has largely bypassed Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer. It recently announced a 33% rise in UK sales for the three months preceding September.

This article was first published on brandrepublic.com