‘Amazon will eat our lunch,’ warns Westfarmers MD
Retail boss Richard Goyder hits out at US etailer, branding it a “gorilla” who is far greater threat to Australian retail than Coles or Woolies.
Speaking at American Chamber of Commerce lunch, yesterday Goyder hit out at Amazon’s lack of contribution to the local economy, reports AAP.
“I’m not sure how many people they’re employing in Australia, I’m not sure how much community contribution they make to Australia and I’m certainly not sure how much taxation they’re paying in Australia.”
But he admits: “they are a good competitor,”, selling much of the same gear as Westfarmers-owned retailers Officeworks, Bunning’s and Target.
“If Wesfarmers is not strong, lean, dynamic, creative and innovative then Amazon will eat our lunch,” he warned.
He also jumped to defend accusations of Westfarmers’ being part of a local duopoly.
“The narrative in Australia is that there is a duopoly in supermarkets – I read that all the time. I don’t buy that at all”, he said.
Westfarmers last week reported sales of $13 bn with growth in all segments including food and liquor, 10% rise in Bunnings and Officeworks sales up 3%.
Westfarmers and Woolworths are listed among the top 100 world retailers.
Amazon recently reported a net loss $41 million in the third quarter, although sales increased 24% to $17.09 billion.
