Amazon is a "10 tonne gorilla in the room" in the e-commerce market according to the founder of Metapack, who publicly called out the threat of the online retailer to the market for the first time.
Speaking at The Delivery Conference in London today (30 January), Patrick Wall said: "We are all quite conscious that there is a gorilla in the room. That gorilla is a 10-tonne monster and, while it is entertaining our customers, it's threatening. That gorilla is Amazon."
He added that by 2030, 39% of all e-commerce transactions will be through Amazon, eBay or Alibaba. However Wall added that Amazon's technology isn't advancing as quickly as people perceive.
"Amazon has taken structural advantage through scale but the technology isn't necessarily advancing that quickly. There are many people now who can provide a better option," he said.
Debenhams chairman Ian Cheshire also addressed the threat of Amazon to its competitors, and warned that the market should pay more attention to the businesses reinvestment in innovation.
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"Amazon is outspending the e-commerce arms race at least five to one," he said. "The average retailer reinvests 1% to 2% on innovation. Amazon reinvests 6%."
Cheshire added: "They deliberately reinvest their money in innovation and that money is going into better testing and infrastructure. Amazon is taking roughly a 20-year bet. It's not interested in quarterly numbers.
"[Founder Jeff] Bezos is playing by a completely different set of rules and relentlessly working out where the next chunk of value is coming from in a very while way."
It came as Amazon said it would recruit 400 employees for its new Rugby fulfilment centre, which will open this year.
“We are delighted to expand our operations in the Midlands where we already have a dedicated workforce of more than 2,500 people at fulfilment centres in Rugeley, Coalville and Daventry,” said Stefano Perego, Amazon’s director of UK Customer fulfilment.
In addition, the e-retailer's first dedicated UK receive centre will open in Coventry this year and act as a central hub to receive and sort millions of products sold on Amazon.co.uk each year. Recruitment for Coventry has begun and will create 1,650 permanent jobs.
