Most Australian consumers are keen to buy from Amazon when it arrives but the majority of the nation's retailers have no plan to compete against the online behemoth, a new survey shows.
Commonwealth Bank's latest Retail Insights research found 78 per cent of 506 retailers surveyed don't have a strategy to deal with the major shift in shoppers habits that Amazon is expected to trigger.
The research, which also involved surveying about 1,500 shoppers, found almost 70 per cent of consumers are likely to buy from Amazon.
Commonwealth Bank's national manager of retail Jerry Macey said one quarter of retailers are concerned about Amazon but they don't have a plan and say they aren't working on one.
"It seems Australian shoppers are ready for Amazon but many of our retailers are still at the drawing board," he said.
"Although Amazon's arrival is reportedly weeks, not months, away, it will have a staged entry.
"So there is time to put plans in place but that window is closing."
He said retailers preparing for Amazon's arrival will be looking at strategies around their products, categories, prices and distribution.
The items shoppers said they were most likely to buy from Amazon were books, gaming and music followed closely by consumer electronics, computers and household appliances.
Share
