Ppl are over-reacting a bit re: Amazon. Sure, they're a serious...

Ppl are over-reacting a bit re: Amazon. Sure, they're a serious competitor but, lets face it, people have been accessing Amazon for years. Just because they are moving to a local presence doesn't mean there will be a massive shift of consumers over to them. That phase has already happened - which is why Amazon are setting up here.

There will be some additional movement of customers to the local Amazon, of course, but I suspect they'll be mostly cannibalizing there existing on-line customer base.

As to competition: how long have industry watchers been saying that Australian super markets have the highest margins in the world? I live in WA and the introduction of Aldi, which I don't use at all, has had a noticeable impact on prices. My local WOW has had to revamp itself to make it more attractive (I'm sure this happened years(?) ago in eastern state stores, but only now, in part, because of Aldi - but also because it overlaps by WOW's new strategy of actually competing with Coles). Amazon has very little overlap in groceries.

Amazon will have an effect on the likes of Target. K-Mart, Big W, JBH/Good Guys, etc. Haven't prices fallen in those businesses? NEWS: people will not be wanting to pay $x in postage for a $10 item, so again, theres a limit on how much Amazon will capture. Looking at my network, they use Amazon mostly for products you cant easily get in Australia.

The sky is staying right where its always been.