Can anyone meet customers' Amazonian expectations? The cards seem stacked against big-box retailers that are rapidly becoming showrooms for the online giant. Can brick and mortar survive?
By Eric Krell
In December, Amazon offered a $5 discount to consumers who reported how competing retailers were pricing products also available through the retail king's flourishing site. The move incited a backlash the retail community had not experienced since Wal-Mart's reign a decade ago. One of the "Occupy Amazon" buttons that cropped up in response to Amazon's offer featured a picture of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, sporting devil horns (a clever Photoshopper's twist on the company's curved arrow logo).