Could top dogs like Amazon and Target lose their throne to a mom-and-pop online retailer? According to Stephanie Clifford and Claire Cain Miller's January 2012 New York Times article smaller online retail websites are fighting back against companies like Amazon and Walmart. Amazon is well known for shutting down smaller competitors by drastically reducing prices. The little guys are combating this by disabling price compare, and giving away free stuff.
The New York Times quoted Dr. Harold Pollack saying he used to spend almost one-thousand dollars every year on Amazon. “I don’t feel they behave in a way that I want to support with my consumer dollars,” said Dr. Pollack. He has not shopped with Amazon since. He said they have higher prices, but he can now shop with a clear conscience.
Not only are little sites giving away free stuff, they are trying to come across as "mom-and-pop" websites in an effort to gain sympathy from the online universe. Lacy Simons owner of Hello Hello Books said “We know there’s only so much that we can do to compete against them, so you end up relying on what hopefully becomes an emotional or personal connection with the retailer online.”
The New York Times interviewed Michael Walden, a regional economics professor at North Carolina State University, and he said "Folks are exercising their desire to support local stores where local is not just in their town, but anywhere in the country. A large number of Americans have a general suspicion of bigness in the economic world — they equate bigness with power, monopoly.” I do not think the majority of online shoppers will feel this way. Will the amount of unnecessary free stuff get you to buy or the bottom line?
Last shopping season the major websites only took home seventy percent of the profit. The little websites are doing even more now. It will be interesting to see how well they compete with the holiday shopping season rapidly approaching.