Amazon Home of Black Friday pop-up store is open today for 24 hours on 3-10 Shoreditch High Street to offer shoppers a range of free experiences, demos, free samples and giveaways this peak.
When I visited Black Friday dedicated store today, which runs from Thursday November 22 until Sunday 25, it appeared to me as an ‘experience’ hub rather than a home. The pop-up space looks like an idealised reality of a home environment in which Amazon attempted to promote their products across eight individual themed rooms including a living room, two bedrooms, virtual reality (VR) and PC gaming zones, children’s play area, home cinema and an alcohol bar space.
“It’s showing our breadth and all the things we have to offer. If you think about what Black Friday is, it’s about having a huge range of deals and offers across thousands of different products at this time of year when customers need it, want it or appreciate it, and we feel ‘Home of Black Friday’ fits in well with that – with a huge range of things you can experience through Amazon and it shows that there’s something for everyone there.”
-Matt Knight, head of Prime Now at Amazon,
The second annual pop-up store is stretching up to additional 7,000 sq ft in comparison to Last years Soho pop-up shop, which offered consumers a chance to explore more than 100 curated Black Friday deals, play games, participate in workshops hosted by Amazon handmade artisans.
For whole 24-hours shoppers today will be treated to free experiences including yoga, beauty and hairstyling makeovers, history of American whiskey, cocktail masterclasses, candle making and mindfulness meditation to finish off the day.
As I was leaving the store I got given a goodies bag with products from retailers including Hotel Chocolat, Max Factor, Whole Foods and KIND Protein.
Overall, it seems like an idea behind the pop-up store is to expose customers to Amazon’s products that are designed to add comfort and practicality to each area of the house. Yet, the so-called notion of a smart-home seems too far-fetched from what average consumers needs in their home space. For instance, the ‘Home of Black Friday’ has two gaming rooms which seem like an impractical use of rooms, or perhaps the marketplace is pushing its own agenda by promoting their high-ticket products across each room? Or are they are aiming to inspire shoppers to move towards high-tech home? What’s your view on this?
