Retailers fight to woo shoppers as Amazon grows

Toys and TVs at J.C. Penney, Barbies at Best Buy, kitchen appliances like refrigerators at B.J.’s. As the holiday shopping season officially kicked off yesterday, shoppers may find some surprises at their favourite stores.

Even as retailers are counting on a lift from a better economy, they’re looking beyond economic data and mapping out ways to pick up sales from other retailers as Amazon expands its reach. That can mean opening earlier than rivals on the holidays or even jumping into new product categories. The fight for market share comes as analysts at Bain say Amazon is expected to take half of the holiday season’s sales growth. And Amazon is the top destination for people to begin holiday shopping, according to a September study by market research firm NPD Group.

“The retailers are in survival mode. It’s about stealing each other’s market share,” said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at NPD. “Amazon is the Grinch. They’re stealing the growth.”

With the jobless rate at a 17-year-low of 4.1 per cent and consumer confidence stronger than a year ago, analysts project healthy sales increases for November and December. The National Retail Federation trade group expects sales for that period to at least match last year’s rise of 3.6 per cent and estimates online spending and other non-store sales to rise 11 per cent to 15 per cent. store chain Myer Holdings Ltd are down 39 per cent.

“It’s not as if the majority of retailers in Australia are making a fortune and growing their businesses,” said Gerry Harvey, executive chairman of Harvey Norman.