By Matthew Carr
It’s been a year for the record books…
The Dow Jones industrial average set 70 new all-time highs. A new record in its own right.
And the Nasdaq crossed more than 7,000 for the first time ever.
The markets are on track for their best year since 2013. And investors are cheering into the new year.
But there’s a sector that has left the Dow and Nasdaq in the dust…
It’s been one of my favorite sectors to cover over the years. And the war within it is starting to heat up…
‘Tis the Season for Winners and Losers
Right now, U.S. holiday shopping is still in full swing.
These are the last frenzied days before Christmas. Shoppers are scurrying to check off the final presents on their lists so no children, spouses, siblings or friends will be disappointed on Christmas morning.
And thankfully, there’s a variety of ways to accomplish this – online and in store.
Over the years, more and more shopping has gone digital.
So it’s no surprise, in my view, that the biggest winners of the holiday season are e-commerce giants like Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN).
But they’re not the only option.
As I’ve written and talked about here before, you can’t ignore brick-and-mortars with a renewed omnichannel focus like Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) and Macy’s (NYSE: M).
On the digital front though, 76% of shoppers said they will do most of their shopping online at Amazon. Wal-Mart is second at 8%. It then dwindles from there…
But we also tend to overlook the digital divide in the U.S. when it comes to online shopping and income.
For instance, 62% of Americans making $100,000 or more will do most of their shopping online. But just 20% of those making $30,000 or less will do the same.
So there are disparities.
Now, Amazon would love the U.S. to get to a point where everyone buys everything online or with a mobile device – or at least does so more often than we visit a store. In some instances, we’re already seeing that, which is why retail, grocery stores and pharmacies have all felt the pressure from Amazon.
But there is a place where Amazon’s dream is real. Ironically, it’s also a place where Amazon has struggled to get its foot in the door.
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Where Retailers Dream of Electronic Sheep
In China, 46% of consumers visit a physical store on a daily or weekly basis.
That’s lower than the 52% who make purchases on mobile devices on a daily and weekly basis.
And in China, Amazon is a nobody…
In fact, over the past five years, Amazon’s measly 2% share of the Chinese market dropped to 1.3% in 2016.
Competition is stiff in China, where there are multiple “Amazons.”
So far this year, shares of Amazon have risen a little more than 58%. That’s a great return, and it beats the markets.
But that’s half of what shares of Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) and Tencent (OTC: TCEHY) have done. And it also lags those of JD.com (Nasdaq: JD).
Amazon may rule the roost in the U.S., but in China it’s being pushed out… And …read more
Source:: Investment You
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