Amazon To Roll Out Kiosks To Hawk Its Products In India

Amazon is gearing up to roll out kiosks in India that will enable consumers to purchase its hardware including its Kindle eBook reader, Echo, its smart speaker, and the Fire TV stick.

According to a report in The Economic Times citing two people familiar with the eCommerce giant’s plans, Amazon will install 100 kiosks in malls across India by the end of 2019. The kiosks could be the early stage of Amazon creating more of a physical retail presence in the country.  The report noted Amazon has been testing kiosks for a couple of years now and has been operating four for longer than a year. They are located in Karnataka, Mumbai, and Ahmedabad. A fifth kiosk debuted in Noida last week, noted The Economic Times.  “We do not speculate on our future road map, but we’re always looking at ways to provide the best experience to our customers,” an Amazon spokesperson told the ET in an emailed response. “The Amazon Devices Kiosk gives customers a first-hand experience with the devices. Customers can walk up to the kiosk and take an assisted live demo of Kindle, Fire TV and Echo family of devices with the help of the store staff before purchasing devices. The store staff is also available to solve customer queries, pre- and post-purchase.”

A mall executive told the ET that the kiosks will be managed by third-party franchises. Amazon isn’t alone in using kiosks to sell its products in India. Google used pop-up stores in malls across India to educate users about its Pixel 2 phones.

At the same time that Amazon is testing kiosks in India, it’s shuttering pop-up stores in the U.S. Earlier in March The Wall Street Journal reported Amazon is closing all 87 of its pop-up stores by the end of April. At the same time as it’s closing the stores within stores, it is expanding its bookstores and 4-star stores where it sells curated items that are popular online.