Amazon stores: Sort of like a Birch Box that you drive to.

CNBC recently profiled Amazon’s new store that sells popular items from its website. Basically, the store curates the “good stuff” and stocks it in one retail environment.

I couldn’t help but think of the “monthly stuff in a box” trend. Birch Box is one, but there are several others. The key difference is that Birch Box and its ilk curate a set of items in a particular category; Amazon crowdsources that curation, using popularity as a proxy for curation. And of course, Birch Boxes come in the mail. You drive to the Amazon store. But for all the differences, the idea is the same: reinventing #retail #marketing – creating a new type of experience grounded in surprise, delight and excitement versus predictability and efficiency.