People have a very fixed image in their minds of what Amazon is. Look, Levi's can't sell shirts. McDonald's can't sell pizza. And I think it's going to be a similar, if not more difficult, leap for Amazon to sell other things. More difficult, in part, because branding a store is especially tough on the Web, retail experts say.
Signs can trumpet new arrivals.
Key merchandise can be pushed to the entrances. On the Internet, every customer walks into the store through a portal rarely bigger than 19 inches in diameter. It's simply harder to wow on the Web, retail observers say. And that may mean Earth's biggest bookstore will have a tough go of it as Earth's biggest pharmacy or Earth's biggest toy store. That's heresy to Bezos, who raises no white flag over his efforts to become the ultimate superstore.