Amazon ponders move into High Street

[Simon]

Amazon.com is planning to launch its own retail stores, according to reports.

Analysts said the move may be inspired by the success of Apple, which has hundreds of its own stores to show off iPhones, iPads and other gadgets and accessories.

Quidsi, an online retailer Amazon acquired in 2010, opened its first retail store in Manhasset, New York, last year to sell expensive cosmetics and perfumes under the BeautyBar name, and the company is reportedly planning a series of stores to sell its growing line of gadgets near its Seattle headquarters.

"The primary goal of the test is to determine if a physical retail presence can accelerate sales of Kindle devices and follow-on consumption of digital content at an attractive return on invested capital," Cowen and Company analyst Jim Friedland wrote in a note to investors. An Amazon spokeswoman declined to comment.

Such moves are a major departure for Amazon, which has thrived by competing aggressively on price with traditional retailers that are saddled with the cost of leasing physical stores.

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