HELLO…Here is a wakeup call for all retailers and brands….
While the news media was focused on the downward death spiral of the physical retail sector, it seems Amazon was busy ramping up its roll-out of physical stores, a development that many observers have perceived as merely test-marketing or experimenting.
Not so, says Adam W. Ifshin, a board member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC.org), an industry trade group.
Ifshin says that, based on studies done by ICSC, Amazon is on track to become a gorilla in the bricks-and-mortar retail business with eventually as many as 3,600 physical stores.
“There's only one company in e-commerce that matters and it's Amazon,” says Ifshin. “And what are they doing? They are trying to become Walmart.”