Fortune has a piece about Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren told an investment conference this week that he thinks Amazon's potential impact on his business is overstated.
It was just last year that a research company predicted that Amazon would eclipse Macy's in apparel retailing sometime next year.
Lundgren says that "Macy’s nearly 800 namesake stores offer it a huge advantage over Amazon, given how shoppers tend to buy the same item in multiple sizes when they order online. And Macy’s can use its stores to handle returns, which lowers some of the shipping costs and offers another chance to win some sales while those customers are in stores."
“They’re going to have an interesting challenge when they start getting all those returns coming back online,” Lundgren said. “The large, large majority of online purchases which are returned in our case come back to stores because they’re so convenient. And so we at least have a shot at selling them something else.”
It was just last year that a research company predicted that Amazon would eclipse Macy's in apparel retailing sometime next year.
Lundgren says that "Macy’s nearly 800 namesake stores offer it a huge advantage over Amazon, given how shoppers tend to buy the same item in multiple sizes when they order online. And Macy’s can use its stores to handle returns, which lowers some of the shipping costs and offers another chance to win some sales while those customers are in stores."
“They’re going to have an interesting challenge when they start getting all those returns coming back online,” Lundgren said. “The large, large majority of online purchases which are returned in our case come back to stores because they’re so convenient. And so we at least have a shot at selling them something else.”
- KC's View:
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Interesting point, and Lundgren could be right. But, he also could be wrong ... and could join the legions of other retail executives who made the mistake of underestimating Amazon.
It seems to me that Amazon-owned Zappos has figured out how to deal with the returns issue efficiently, effectively and economically. And it strikes me as likely that Amazon has absorbed learnings from Zappos' experience.
But Lundgren isn't alone in his feelings about Amazon...
