Mobile Technology

New Kindle line to be offered at Best Buy, Staples

New Kindle line to be offered at Best Buy, Staples
Amazon has announced deals to sell its Kindle line through offline retailers Best Buy and office supply giant Staples
Amazon has announced deals to sell its Kindle line through offline retailers Best Buy and office supply giant Staples
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Amazon has announced deals to sell its Kindle line through offline retailers Best Buy and office supply giant Staples
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Amazon has announced deals to sell its Kindle line through offline retailers Best Buy and office supply giant Staples

Looking to supplement sales of the new Kindle line, including the Kindle Fire, Amazon has announced deals with offline retailers Best Buy and office supply giant Staples. The question: why now? Why start selling your product offline when it was already the most recognizable brand in the e-reader market.

Kindle owns the market when it comes to e-readers. Research firm IDC estimates that Kindle owns 51.7-percent of the e-reader marketshare. The Nook is second; owning 21.2-percent of the market.

5.4 million units were sold between the second quarter of 2010 and the second quarter of 2011, which shows growth of 167-percent. So, when you own the market, and project phenomenal growth, why move into the offline world. The simple answer? More.

Leading Wall Street analysts predict 15 million Kindle Fire sales by 2013, which is a aggressive to say the least. Reaching these targets becomes much simpler by bringing your product to the people.

Industry insiders have a name for those that won't buy online. The "40-percent obstacle" is an estimate of the total percent of purchasers that refuse to purchase anything online. The top reason for not shopping online cited in the Retail Forward study was the 41-percent who claimed they "Prefer in-store personal interaction." Seventy-two-percent of all customers polled said they prefer to buy electronic devices in a store, rather than online.

These numbers look like the industry leader in e-readers is making a wise decision in offering their product offline. Even if you throw the numbers out the window, the Kindle Fire begs to be test-driven by interested parties, or those that don't even know that they are interested in an e-reader.

Showing off a gadget is best done by demo'ing the features to people who might not have realized they were interested before seeing it. Offline retailers certainly won't hurt the online juggernaut.

3 comments
3 comments
Frank Bicking
I don\'t get this article. I purchased my Kindle 3 at Best Buy in July and got the case and Staples. So Amazon has already been selling at these stores. Oh an if anyone is interested they also sell them at Walmart, Target and probable many other stores.
Richard Edmonds
I don\'t see the point of an e-reader
Bill Bennett
I got the HP tablet 32 gig for 150 bucks last month, this is a yawn, the aftermarket support for apps on the HP is tits, I would buy another two for my Mum and my girlfriend, I hear they are going to available again later this year,, and Frank? the word is probably, Richard, Yes I only read a printed page on paper, don\'t use my tablet as a reader, just gmail, photos, movies, navigation, web browsing, weather reports, my Mum thought the movies of my Son\'s little dawg were a blast,,, JJ come, see JJ ignore him for a minute, next movie JJ come, yep, you guessed it JJ came, lots of huffing and puffing from a six pound dawg, if he does not like you he will lick your ears off, err, I meant bite