RetailNet shares Amazon insights

WALTHAM, Mass. — Amazon is on a course trajectory that will see the online juggernaut command 30% of all online sales by 2016, according to a RetailNet Group projection shared by Keith Anderson, VP digital strategy, during a recent webcast on GMDC Connect, powered by Telepresence.

As part of a session titled “Amazon in Focus,” Anderson provided a comprehensive understanding of Amazon’s complex business model in one hour.

What’s most important to Amazon’s success is that shoppers perceive the retailer sells virtually everything that is available. Amazon has positioned itself as the go-to for product research, Anderson noted. “Amazon now is the preferred starting point for product research for around 30% of those researching products online, which is [more than] double the percentage that start with Google,” he said.

The AmazonFresh expansion could change the economics of same-day delivery with high-frequency deliveries on Amazon trucks, as opposed to Fed-Ex or UPS, plus 200,000 general merchandise SKUs. “Somewhere between a half dozen and 20 markets, everywhere from New York City to perhaps Dallas, Denver, Phoenix ... are under consideration for expansion next year.”

“... AmazonFresh really represents in the end the ability, we believe, to offer same-day delivery ... profitably to as much as 80% of the population,” Anderson suggested. “More realistically over the next 18 to 36 months, 50% of the population.”

To watch the video, click here.