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Amazon

Amazon targets Christmas rush with first physical store

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By John Glenday, Reporter

October 10, 2014 | 2 min read

Amazon has bucked the direction of travel adopted by every fellow retailer by switching from the online world in which it dominates to open its first physical bricks and mortar store.

The New York City outlet will open its doors in time for the holiday rush, capitalising on total retail sales which are expected to hit $4.73tn in the US this year, a rise on the $4.53tn reported in 2013 by eMarketer.

Of this some 6.5 per cent will accrue from ecommerce sales, approximately $305.7bn, with mcommerce accounting for rather less, just $58.07bn or 1.2 per cent of all retail sales.

Crucially of this total spend $862bn will fly out of wallets and purses during the holiday season alone, a 5 per cent uptick on the 2013 holiday season. For its part holiday ecommerce will account for just $72.4bn or 8.4 per cent of all sales in the period – albeit a higher share of total retail than throughout the entire year.

Amazon’s first city store will function as a ‘mini warehouse’ as well as acting as a hub for returns and exchanges and online order pick up and exchanges.

If it proves to be a success the format may be rolled out to other cities.

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