As Christmas is drawing closer, e-commerce majors such as Amazon.com Inc and Wal-Mart Stores Inc and others are focussing on making items easily available, rather than duking it out on price, says a Bloomberg report. Wal-Mart is certainly geared up for playing up its humongous brick-and-mortar presence and in-store pickup services for online shoppers noted the report. Amazon will cash in on its reputation for quick delivery and convenience, especially with Christmas falling on a Monday this year, the report pointed out.Make or Break Moment“The tail end of the season will be the make-or-break moment,” said Tamara Gaffney, an analyst at Adobe. “Right now, it’s all about dropping prices, which isn’t nearly as hard as getting things to people at the last minute.” Smartphone shopping fuelled the Cyber Monday sales, accounting for more than 21% of revenue and topping $2 billion in a single day for the first time, Adobe said. The $6.59 billion record total spending came on top of $43.4 billion spent online from November 1-26, also an increase from 2016, according to Adobe’s report.Filling the VoidTraditional retailers Macy’s Inc., Sears Holdings Corp. and JC Penney Co. have all shuttered stores, creating an opportunity for retailers to fill the void online, said Tom Forte, an analyst at DA Davidson & Co. “There’s a lot of market share out there to be had,” he said.
Advantage AmazonSucharita Mulpuru, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc says, “The challenge for retailers is winning mind-share beyond Thursday to Monday,” she said. “That’s where Amazon sucks up all the oxygen because shoppers know Amazon will have what they want in stock and can deliver it quickly.” Amazon “handily won” online spending on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, according to a report by John Fetto, an analyst at Hitwise, which tracks 8 million shoppers on 20 million websites. The Seattle-based company had 55% of e-commerce transactions from the top 50 online retailers, with Wal-Mart a distant second at 8.8 percent, according to Hitwise. Its shares closed about 0.8% higher on Monday.Ditching StoresShoppers continue to ditch the hassle of crowded stores and malls for the convenience of shopping online. Internet spending during the November-December holiday season in the U.S. is projected to reach about $107 billion this year, more than 11% of total holiday retail sales -- the largest portion ever, according to EMarketer Inc. Amazon, the world’s biggest online retailer, is projected to capture half of the e-commerce holiday spending growth, according to Bain & Co. Cyber Monday became a phenomenon when e-commerce was in its infancy and most people had slow, dial-up internet connections at home. Online merchants noticed a spike in demand when shoppers returned to work where they had high-speed connections and shopping was less laborious, added the report.Some of the sites where you can quickly shop for Christmas...Get all your Christmas decors at Kohl’sUp to 60% Off Christmas Trees on JC PennyMake decorating a breeze with stunning trees that set up easily and look amazing at Sam’s ClubShop Christmas by theme at KmartThis Christmas - Shop, and Ship with Ship7!
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