Doors Open at First Amazon UK 4-Star Store Outside US

Doors are opening on Wednesday (Oct. 6) at the first Amazon U.K. 4-star store outside of the U.S., offering a wide variety of just about everything except food, according to a blog post.

The 3,500 square foot brick-and-mortar store is on High Street at the Bluewater shopping center in Kent and is selling merchandise based on data gleaned from online sales. All products have a minimum 4-star rating, hence the name of the shop.

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Amazon 4-star curates items for sale based on what online customers in the region are clicking on and purchasing in popular categories like books, electronics, home goods, toys and more. Amazon devices like the Kindle, Fire Tablets, and Echo are also available in-store.

Unique to Amazon 4-star, shoppers can peruse the most popular items on Amazon.co.uk gleaned from customers’ wish lists, most gifted items, and what’s trending in the area. The merchandise will also get swapped out on a regular basis depending on customer feedback and new product releases.

Read more: Amazon Adds Address-Free Gifting Feature Ahead of Holidays

“The Amazon 4-star store is a great place for customers to discover hot new releases, guaranteed page-turners, top-selling electronics, and more,” said Andy Jones, director of Amazon 4-star, UK.

Jones added that the entire store was developed with customers top of mind and curated from the “most-loved products at great prices.” Shoppers also get the chance to “test-drive Amazon’s latest devices” and get the benefit of in-store pickup and returns.

Amazon opened its first 4-star store in the SoHo section of Manhattan in 2018 and now has 32 locations across the U.S.

The eCommerce giant also has plans in the works to expand the number of physical stores in its grocery division Fresh, PYMNTS reported on Tuesday (Oct. 5). Braintree, Massachusetts reportedly approved a 37,500-square-foot Amazon Fresh store. Eden Prairie, Minnesota, also was said to have greenlighted plans for a 40,000-square-foot grocery store. In both instances, the planning board documents were filed under pseudonyms for confidentiality purposes.