Amazon’s Prime seen as greater threat to retailers than Whole Foods deal
TORONTO Amazon is Canada’s biggest e-commerce retailer by a vast margin, according to a new analysis from BMO Capital Markets.
BMO estimates the Seattlebased retailer and operator of Amazon.com and Amazon.ca generated just over $3.5 billion in Canadian e-commerce sales in 2016, up from an estimated $2 billion in 2014.
“There is a sizable gap in Canadian e-commerce sales between the company and all the other retailers,” BMO retail analyst Peter Sklar wrote in the report.
And the top five e-commerce sites ranked in terms of sales, according to BMO’s analysis, are all subsidiaries of U.S. companies: Apple is ranked No. 2 at an estimated $1.6 billion in sales, followed by eBay.ca at $1.5 billion, Costco.ca at $771 million, and Walmart.ca at $605 million.
BMO estimates total Canadian retail e-commerce sales have reached $18 billion, based on an assumption that the top 22 retailers in Canada with at least $100 million in annual Canadian ecommerce sales account for about two-thirds of the present market.
Sklar attributes Amazon’s rapid online sales growth in Canada to a continued growth in product categories at Amazon.ca, as well as a growing number of Canadians who subscribe to Amazon Prime, the e-commerce giant’s $79 annual priority delivery subscription.
In the last five years, Amazon Canada has broadened its distribution beyond the early categories of books and DVDs and into areas such as pet products, toys, apparel, health and beauty items, packaged groceries, and a streaming video service.
On June 16, the retailer announced it had acquired the Whole Foods bricks-and-mortar grocery chain for US$13.7 billion.
“While this development signals a negative for incumbent grocers as it emphasizes Amazon’s commitment to be a major player in grocery in North America, we believe the impact on the Canadian retail landscape will be minimal in the foreseeable future,” Sklar said.
“Whole Foods Canada has a limited physical distribution footprint for Amazon to leverage: 13 locations in Canada, with only six offering awkward, semi-online delivery services.
“The more pressing threat for Canadian retailers is Amazon’s continued foray into general merchandise categories and an increase in the number of Primeeligible items.”
In the meantime, Walmart in the U.S. has been broadly expanding its e-commerce offering in order to compete with Amazon, acquiring the online fashion retailers ModCloth, Bonobos and Shoes.com.
Walmart Canada, which operates the Walmart.ca website, confirmed this week that it will expand its e-commerce offerings substantially within the next two months as it debuts the offerings of third-party retailers and brands on its website to better compete with Amazon and eBay.