Half of Nordic online retailers see Amazon as a threat

Amazon is seen as a threat by almost half of Nordic online retailers. On the other hand, over a quarter of ecommerce players see Amazon entering the Nordic market as an opportunity. With Amazon’s arrival, local retailers can use the established marketplace to sell their products to more consumers.

This can be concluded from the eTail Nordic 2018 report, for which WBR Insights surveyed a hundred Directors of E-Commerce from across the Nordics. One of the questions they got is how they think it will impact their business, now Amazon is about to enter the Nordics.

Almost half (46 percent) answered negatively, saying Amazon will disrupt the industry and set unrealistic standards, while 28 percent believed Amazon coming to the Nordics would have any serious impact. And 26 percent responded positively, saying it’s an opportunity to use an established marketplace.

‘We should be working with Amazon, not fight them’

Allan Bo Christiansen, digital developer at Nordic IT company Atea, think these numbers are very concerning. “We should be working with them rather than against them. In the same way as when Google made their entry, we need to readjust and optimize our supply chain to fulfil customer expectations and find a solution where we can meet the customer when their intent for purchase is peaking.”

Peter Hvidberg, head of ecommerce at Intersport Group Obviously, says that if Nordic consumers stop searching on Google and only use Amazon, Intersport will need to find a business model for that. “Intersport has 6000 stores in 46 countries – we have a really solid platform and strong commitment from our suppliers, so Amazon is not going to be a threat to us. I think the biggest threat is towards the small companies.”