COLUMBUS, Ohio, Jan. 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The competitive retail challenge is no longer complicated to define: Amazon is one of the fastest growing companies in the history of American business.
Because of this we wanted to see if we could uncover their competitive weakness in our latest study, Amazon Won Now What?
We know that capitalism doesn't have a mercy rule, and as ecommerce begins to dominate all facets of retail, Amazon is just getting started. For the first time, Amazon will cross an important threshold, holding more than half—52.4% to be exact—of ecommerce sales in the US this year.
Over six years ago, we released our landmark study Amazon Can't Do That which detailed how Amazon (at the time) had yet to take over the world; they weren't among the top five retailers in the nation and their yearly ecommerce revenue was only at around $61 billion. In the time since then, one thing has become evident: Amazon has altered the consumer experience forever.
The competitive ground that they have covered in less than a decade is almost unfathomable. We now know that Amazon can do ANYTHING, so we decided to speak to consumers again—4,000 of them, up from 2,500 in our previous study. The results were stunning, mainly because we were hard-pressed to find any weakness at all. By almost every measure, Amazon engenders positive consumer sentiment.
When we asked consumers, unaided, to name the Best retailer, Amazon topped the results handily, beating Walmart out by double-digits. We have dubbed Amazon an "Anything Engine"; there is no longer any question as to whether they will dominate ecommerce, grocery, publishing, entertainment, and, quite frankly, any category it someday decides it wants to take over.
Amazon has won by understanding changing consumer expectations and then meeting them without fail. And in the 21st century, it's not just about giving consumers what they want: you must give them what they want before your competitors do. Stores can't compete, in their current iteration. Expanding outside the box of the "store" into the mindset of an "Anything Engine" is a path to reinvention. The only thing the status quo offers is obsolescence.
It comes down, in most cases, to your brand, and the results of the study will help brands answer two key questions: Do consumers believe in your worldview? Do they believe you can make anything possible? Click here to purchase the full white paper and for a complete look at our findings.
About WD Partners
WD's mission is to drive and shape the future of customer experience. Our passion has been to solve our clients' challenges and anticipate their future needs. We are customer fanatics that pride ourselves on being on the forefront of retail disruption. WD's integrated services include strategy & insights, brand & design, architecture & engineering and constructions services. WD Partners, innovation at scale.
SOURCE WD Partners
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