Amazon to create high-street presence

Amazon may partner with UK high street stores

Reports at the weekend suggest that Amazon may have plans to set out its stall on the high street by partnering with UK retailers.

Branching out from its traditional web model would be significant for Amazon, as the trend until now has been in the opposite direction from high street stores to online, most recently by Woolworths and Littlewoods.

A report in The Sunday Times quoted property owners familiar with Amazon's plans as saying that the company wants to satisfy the growing consumer demand to buy online and pick up their purchases from nearby stores.

Amazon said today that it has "no plans to open physical stores anywhere in the world", but refused to comment on the separate question of whether it would partner with other shops. This silence may indicate that this is the reality.

A source familiar with Amazon's proposals told The Sunday Times: " When Amazon was just selling books and CDs that fitted easily through the letterbox, it was fine to be a web-only business. But now that it has branched out into everything from children's bikes to electricals, it believes it could boost sales by having stores that offer a collection point for shoppers."

Amazon reported revenues of $5.45bn (£3.33bn) for its quarter ending in September, up 28 per cent on the same period last year.