Kohl's to sell Amazon hardware, Home Depot partners with Google

Amazon is easily one of the world's biggest online retailers, which makes them a rival to pretty much any kind of brick-and-mortar store. That's what makes a partnership between Kohl's and Amazon an interesting one. The two have revealed that the big box retailer will start to sell Amazon's own branded hardware inside their stores, while Google also announced that Home Depot has partnered with their Google Assistant and Google Express services.

Amazon's deal with Kohl's will only see a limited rollout at 10 of the latter's stores in the Chicago and Los Angeles areas. Dubbed the "Amazon Smart Home Experience," the 1,000-square-foot areas will essentially operate as mini shops within the department store, and sell Amazon devices like the Echo, Kindle, and Fire tablets.

This is only the latest move in Amazon's entry into the physical retail space. The Echo line of speakers quickly started appearing in Whole Foods locations following the acquisition of the grocery store chain, and Amazon has been operating physical bookstores in several cities for years now.

The Google and Home Depot partnership, on the other hand, means users can shop and place orders using voice commands with the Google Home smart speaker, and then use Google Express to arrange deliveries. Home Depot joins other big retailers like Walmart and Costco, who have also made deals with Google.

SOURCE Bloomberg