Target announced yesterday that Amazon’s Kindle 2 will arrive in select Target retail stores on April 25. This is big news for e-readers in general, and the Kindle in particular, since it was only previously available online through Amazon.com. E-readers are a new and still unfamiliar technology, and there are many people who would be wary of spending $259 on a device that they couldn’t see and touch before purchasing (even though Amazon offers a no-questions-asked 30-day return policy on Kindles). Everyone I’ve shown my Kindle to has been impressed, some even amazed by the technology, readability, and light weight. So I think getting the actual product in front of millions of customers will only be a good thing for Kindle sales.
Unfortunately, the “select stores” that will initially get the Kindle 2 are Target’s flagship store in Minneapolis, as well as 102 stores in South Florida … which is where I happen to live. 🙂 Hopefully they will expand the availability nationwide soon.
Another note: it is currently rumored that the Kindle may also be coming to Best Buy. That would be interesting, since Apple’s iPad, Barnes & Noble’s Nook, and Sony’s e-Readers are already available there. That would make Best Buy a great one-stop-shop to try out and compare the various e-readers available.
Of course, the Nook is already available at most Barnes & Noble stores, and is similar enough to the Kindle to give customers an idea — especially the 6″ e-Ink screen, which is identical on both devices.
2 Responses to “Kindle Coming to Target Stores”
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I’ve never done a side by side comparison of the various readers, but my suspicion is that folks buy non-Kindles because Kindles aren’t available in stores. Due to my own carelessness, I broke the display on my Kindle shortly after purchasing it. I explained the circumstances to Amazon and they gave me a replacement for about half the purchase price provided I sentthem back the broken Kindle. They even sent me a preprinted/prepaid UPS label. I thought that was more than fair. I’m not so sure things would have went as smoothly with a store.
Amazon is famous for great customer service. I’ve heard many similar stories where they really go above and beyond: overnighting replacement units out the same day, replacing stuff they’re not obligated to, allowing returns on e-books (which most places don’t allow at all) even beyond the 7-day period, etc.
The only place I’ve found with similar customer-friendly service is Costco.