Amazon launched their first bookstore in Seattle and it has been garnering a ton of mainstream media press. In the past, Amazon has always promoting showrooming, a concept where someone walks into a brick and mortar bookstore with the intention of finding a book cheaper online, often with Amazon. The Elliott Bay Book Company located in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood has been running an interesting promotion. They want people to showroom the Amazon bookstore, in return for gift certificates.
Serious offer: first person who showrooms Amazon Books gets a gift certificate to @ElliottBayBooks. Send pictures. https://t.co/h8e82wy8NA
— Paul Constant (@paulconstant) November 6, 2015
Within a few hours a Twitter user by the name of Allison Stieger visited Amazon Books and found a book she was interested in, Alice Hoffman’s The Marriage of Opposites. She then bought the book from the independent bookstore and posted a picture of the book and receipt.
Done! @queenannebookco @paulconstant pic.twitter.com/ZOeVT1Ah7N
— Allison Stieger (@allisonstieger) November 6, 2015
Allison Stieger now has a bit of noteriaty. She has became the first person in the world to reverse-showroom Amazon Books.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.