Amazon opens bricks and mortar store, introduces paternity leave

E-commerce giant Amazon unveiled two significant changes on Tuesday: it opened its first ever physical store and introduce parental leave for staff who have children.

In a statement released late on Monday, the New York-listed company said under its new policy, new parents who have been working for the group for at least a year will receive six weeks of paid parental leave, regardless of their gender and of whether the child is new born or adopted.

Under the new policy, birth mothers will be entitled to a total of 20 weeks of paid maternity leave, including four weeks of paid leave before the baby’s birth.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Amazon indicated the decision to review the company’s policy on parental leave followed requests from employee surveys and focus groups.

The company also opened the doors of Amazon Books in the University Village shopping centre in its home city of Seattle, its first permanent physical store, where books will be sold at the same price as they are on its website.

Around 6,000 book titles will be on offer, chosen based on reviews they have received online and sales data from Amazon.com.

In the last couple of years, the company has begun to offer bricks-and-mortar locations for its online customers to pick up orders, including lockers and kiosks.

Amazon shares were down 0.84% to 623.05 at 1558 GMT on Tuesday.