Amazon's Push For Dominance

Amazon goes even bolder. In the face of offline retailers.  In the homes of shoppers.  We’ll look at the Amazon push for retail dominance.

Is there anything Amazon.com can’t sell?  We’re about to find out.  The online retail giant just keeps expanding.  This week, wine.  But that’s the least of it.  New warehouses.  New delivery speed.  New package deals to tie you in lock, stock and barrel to the Amazon retail juggernaut.

What’s going to be left of brick and mortar retail?  Of the commercial retail centers, shops, where we have forever gathered and browsed and rubbed shoulders?  Ask Borders – gone.  Ask Best Buy – reeling.  And a lot of others.

This hour, On Point:  what next, as Amazon conquers the retail world?
-Tom Ashbrook

Andrea Chang, technology reporter for the L.A. Times. You can find her latest piece on Amazon here.

Brad Stone, senior writer for Bloomberg Businessweek in Bloomberg's San Francisco bureau. You can find his stories on Amazon here, here, and here.

Howard Davidowitz, retail analyst.

Liza Bernard, independent bookstore owner.

You can also check out past shows about Amazon. We looked at the Amazon economy here, we examined warehouse conditions here, and talked with founder Jeff Bezos here.

Christian Science Monitor "Kelly Burdick, the executive editor for independent publisher Melville House, penned a column Oct. 2 saying that despite Barnes & Noble’s well-known policy of not carrying titles published by Amazon, he had seen Amazon-released book “My Mother Was Nuts” by Penny Marshall at a New York Barnes & Noble location. When he did a “Find in store” search for Marshall’s book on the company’s website, he said the website indicated that the book could be found at Barnes & Noble locations in Seattle, San Francisco, Boston, and Washington, D.C., among others."

The Guardian "The opening salvo was fired last week by America's biggest book chain Barnes & Noble, when it announced that it would not be stocking Amazon Publishing's books. The website publishes a large range of titles, with imprints covering everything from romance to thrillers, and major authors including Deepak Chopra and self-help guru Timothy Ferriss."

L.A. Times "As if shopping on Amazon.com needed to get any more dangerous: The online retailer will now start selling wine in a dedicated section on its site, just in time for the holidays."