Amazon Brings One Piece of Good News for Australian Retailers

Queensland University of Technology’s Gary Mortimer discusses the launch of Amazon in Australia.(Source: Bloomberg)

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By Kanika Sood

November 20, 2017 at 11:09 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

As Amazon.com Inc. prepares to open its Australian site, analysts are fretting over who will be worst hit: big-box retailers such as JB Hi-Fi Ltd., mall owners, or small brick-and-mortar stores.

Cathie Wood, chief executive officer of U.S.-based ARK Investment Management, has some good news for latter, as businesses sign up to Amazon’s marketplace. She reckons Amazon’s arrival will haul the country’s lagging online sales to 10 percent of total retail spending -- up from about 7.4 percent this year according to IBISWorld estimates.