‘We'll attack Amazon’

THE chairman of the nation’s biggest retailer vows he will not lie down and let Amazon erode his company’s profits.

Gerry Harvey, who also coowns Magic Millions with wife and CEO Katie Page-Harvey, said his retail giant Harvey Norman would apply the philosophy that had seen the Gold Coast horse sales become an industry powerhouse. Amazon launched to Australia quietly overnight on Monday, and received early criticism for not being the discount dealing darling it has become in the United States.

Mr Harvey said the Magic Millions had benefited from constant renewal – a tactic Harvey Norman had employed ahead of the Amazon onslaught.

“We will be attacking Amazon,” he said.

“Amazon are coming in saying they’re going to attack all the incumbents and we’re saying ‘yeah, but guess what? You’ve had a pretty easy run in most countries you’ve gone to and we’re putting you on notice that you’re not taking on people that are going to submit easily’. The consumer is going to decide. Let’s just say there’s a good fight coming up.”

Mr Harvey said his Amazon-fighting arsenal included a new wave of international flagship stores as well as its traditional bricks-and-mortar offerings.

“We’ve got shops in every town in Australia with 10,000 people or more,” he said.

“We can deliver almost immediately, any problems we can fix immediately.

“Amazon are going to be concentrating on a warehouse in Melbourne or Sydney or both and they won’t be able to compete with us at all – we have so many advantages over them it’s scary.”

Like Mr Harvey, Pacific Fair is confident Amazon’s introduction to Australia will not stop shoppers from visiting its shopping centre.

Senior centre manager Steven Ihm said the physical shopping experience remained an attraction for consumers.

“We offer an experience like no other shopping centre Gold Coast Bulletin or The Sunday Mail during the promotional period until December 10 and fill in your details at winyourgroceries.com.au/goldcoastbulletin and which you cannot get online,” he said.

“Online can’t offer a place where people of all ages meet, socialise and enjoy each other’s company over a meal, at the movies and shopping together.”

He said because the Gold Coast also had such a large tourist market, it was unlikely Amazon would affect the number of visitors to Pacific Fair.