Amazon’s world-domination tour continues apace. The e-commerce giant gobbled up Whole Foods last month for $13.7 billion, boosting customer traffic by 25 percent after dangling the carrot of lower prices, according to data from Foursquare Labs.
And the company’s invasion into the brick-and-mortar landscape may not be over yet. Roughly a dozen Amazon bookstores have popped up around the country, with more in the pipeline. Starting in October, Amazon-branded “smart home spaces” will be plying Kohls shoppers in the Los Angeles and Chicago areas with Kindles, Fire tablets, and Echo speakers.
There are even rumblings that Amazon may broaden its burgeoning store presence with another acquisition, perhaps by swooping in to the rescue of one of the myriad floundering department-store chains.