Pureplay
Amazon Attacks Offline Competitors with Tantalising Price Comparison Offer for Consumers
- 8th December
- Nirosha Methananda 275
Amazon is bringing out the big guns for Christmas and running an assault on all multichannel fronts with a tantalising offer to drive offline consumers to purchase online!
In its continued mission to dominate the online retail space and in a move that is sure to enrage the online retailer’s already struggling offline competitors, Amazon is offering customers a discount incentive to raise usage of its mobile Price Check application and encourage customers to purchase products that they have found offline… online instead!
Starting on Saturday Amazon is beginning a new campaign to push its mobile price comparison application by offering consumers (who use the application to price check while in-store), an additional 5% discount off (up to $5 off) the Amazon price on up to three qualifying items in toys, electronics, sporting goods, music and DVDs.
“The ability to check prices on your mobile phone when you’re in a physical retail store is changing the way people shop,” says Sam Hall, Director of Amazon Mobile. “Price transparency means that you can save money on the products you want and that’s a great thing for customers.”
In order to receive the discount consumers will need to either scan, take a picture of, say or type the name of the product they are comparing into the Price Check application and then enable the geo-location feature, which will allow them to view the product with the additional 5% discount applied to the price.
In a savvy move Amazon is also encouraging its customers to submit and share in-store prices via its app, with the benefit to the consumer of ensuring that the retailer’s prices always remain competitive, while allowing the company to also collect valuable pricing information on its offline competitors.
“We scour online and in-store advertisements from other retailers, every day, year-round. Now, we are enabling customers to use the Price Check app to share in-store prices while they search for the best deals. This is a powerful opportunity for customers to get involved and ensures Amazon customers get the best possible prices,” comments Hall.
As predicted the offer has garnered criticism from offline retailers and industry organisations, with Katherine Lugar of the the Retail Industry Leaders Association’s Katherine Lugar issuing the following statement about the promotion, which also highlights the debate that has been raging in the US about the internet sales tax and Amazon’s alleged non-compliance (quoted by GeekWire):
“Retailers compete on price 365 days a year, and at no time is that competition hotter than during the make-or-break holiday shopping season. However, by continuing to evade collecting state sales taxes, Amazon’s exploitation of a pre-Internet tax loophole is resulting in a 6-10% perceived price advantage over their competitors on Main Street.
“Amazon’s aggressive promotion of its Price Check App shows the lengths they are willing to go to exploit this tax loophole, and is a stark reminder of why Congress needs to act to protect retailers on Main Street. A failure to act is an implicit endorsement of a subsidy of Amazon, a subsidy that distorts the free market and puts jobs on Main Street at risk.”
