Amazon Powers into Brick- and- Mortar Store Retailing

At The Wall Street Journal, the editors roll out Amazon’s amazing scheme.

Amazon envisions opening more than 2,000 brick-and-mortar grocery stores under its name, depending on the success of the new test locations, according to the people. By comparison, Kroger Co. operates about 2,800 locations across 35 states.

Adding grocery pickups will be “part of their secret sauce in terms of all of the different ways in which they can engage the customer in bringing the product to them,” says Bill Bishop, chief architect at grocery and retail consultancy Brick Meets Click.

Until now, Amazon has centered its grocery strategy around Amazon Fresh, a subscription service that promises quick food delivery for online orders. But delivering groceries is logistically complex, requiring fast delivery for cold items as part of large orders on less profitable routes, where stops are spread far apart. And many consumers still prefer to touch, smell and pick out fresh items like fruits and vegetables for themselves.