Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Wal-Mart...err... Amazon... Endless... Strikes Again

Well, well well... the folks over at Amzaon.com and Endless.com have raised the gauntlet even further with the announcement that they will PAY YOU $5 for choosing overnight shipping.

Again... now that zappos.com has followed suit with the free overnight shipping... this leaves shoebuy.com and shoes.com in a serious bind. Remember that there are only two ways you can compete in the pureplay shoe marketplace; Either more sizes, or easier shipping. The click-brick combos are the ones that can make up the best for the inherent "fear" in online shoe shopping (will it fit me?).

Why would Amazon do such a thing? Simple; They Can. As I said in my blog a few weeks ago, Amazon is VERY serious about OWNING this space. They have pulled out ALL of the stops in terms of features and they have access to almost any brand they want to get to.

The pureplay online shoe market is going to be made or broken with this year's spring business. And it goes to show you that in the online space, it is in fact Amazon, not Wal-Mart, that you should fear the most if they decide to enter your pure-play niche.

Comments or MeeboMe's welcome and encouraged!

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