Placed: Traditional retailers become Amazon's product experience stores

Placed released a study on the impact of Amazon on offline stores. As online e-commerce becomes a shopping destination for more and more people, the massive amount of goods, cheap prices and convenient delivery services are affecting traditional offline stores. For many online shoppers, these traditional offline stores are becoming Amazon's offline windows.

Placed's research is based on a survey of 14,925 U.S. users combined with data from nearly 10 offline locations collected in January 2013. By directly measuring users' paths in the physical world, Placed provides data on how Amazon is changing the retail industry and how retailers should respond to protect their businesses.

The following figure shows the user overlap between Amazon stores and offline retailers in the United States

Here are the key findings from the report:

• Offline experience: People who buy on Amazon are more likely to visit Best Buy (+20%) and Target (15%), but several other retailers face greater risk

• Walmart is currently a relatively safe retailer as it is not as competitive in price as Amazon. Compared with Target and Best Buy, the percentage of people who visit Walmart for the sake of trying but not buying is lower.
• There are obvious differences between men and women. Women are more likely to try products in offline stores and buy them online. Bestbuy, which sells more electronic products, is dominated by male customers.