Amazon has 'destroyed the retail industry' so US should look into its practices, Mnuchin says

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Amazon has 'destroyed the retail industry' so the U.S. should look into its practices, Sec. Mnuchin said last week.

In comparing Amazon to big-box retailer"People had those concerns about Walmart. Walmart developed a business where small business could continue to compete with them," he said."I don't think you can talk about competition among all these companies in the same way," said Mnuchin. "People talk about the FANG stocks like they're all the same. Each company is very different.""Small and medium-sized businesses are thriving with Amazon.

Today, independent sellers make up more than 58% of physical gross merchandise sales on Amazon, and their sales have grown twice as fast as our own, totaling $160 billion in 2018. Amazon's retail business competes in the worldwide market for retail sales and represents less than 1% of global retail and less than 4% of U.S. retail. And the vast majority of retail sales – 90% – still occur in brick-and-mortar stores according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

 

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What little family stores of 100 years ago?

Amazon is transforming how goods move from manufacturers to consumers. Innovation is disruptive. It killed the buggy whip business 125 years ago.

Who invented the internet again?

No destruction. Free enterprise. Hats off to Bezos!

So what Steve? If you look out your window, dinosaurs once roamed this land. Things change!

Steve Mnuchin has NO IDEA what a REGULAR retail store looks like on the inside. He only goes where Louise takes him, and she lowbrows at Saks.

Wrong. The public chose to change their buying habits. Amazon saw the trend and used it for their advantage. I thought Republicans were for capitalism, right stevenmnuchin1 ?

Same thing was said about Walmart.

Munich was board member of sears, who let the company under water. He want to blame Amazon for his failure.

If consumers are too lazy to leave their couch to shop and demand free 2 or 1-day shipping, is it really Amazon's fault for making their customers happy?

Evolution of retail...smdh.

*competed against

Amazon is the company that has kept low inflation on consumer goods.

They’ve improved it, not destroyed it.

Buy Amazon, with two mass shootings in two days, people will avoid public places w a lot of people. Only in America do we have to worry about getting shot in bars, schools, universities, stores, malls, concerts, festival, churches, temples...

The shootings yesterday explain why Amazon and E Commerce matters. Who wants to go out shopping anymore?

Wonder how many times he and his wife have placed orders on Amazon?

Technology is the culprit

Yeah and if this was a serious attempt to protect brick and mortar I’d be interested.

I'll be the first to say if i believed a company has cheated to win but Amazon outsmarted all these cushy, comfortable, & lazy brick & mortar retail companies hands down. I do believe that they should be broken up in regards to their cloud services from their retail business

More bull from a Trump lackey.

Disruptive innovation can't be blamed. We didn't say the same when digital camera took over traditional cameta rolls

But Amazon hasn’t destroyed retail. He’s simply pulled in the tide, exposing all the going concerns that were swimming naked...as the sage Buffett says.

Grabbing everything out of greed is not good for the society. Please leave the small retailers and the US culture of mortar and bricks sales outlet untouched. People and the culture need to survive.

Amazon is amazing loyal till the end

JeffBezos CNET WIRED voxdotcom barronsonline nytimes politico nypost Hmm... 🤔

Amazon is very successful and consumers are very happy to receive their goods in the mail. Retail stores have to reinvent themselves and stop complaining. Get big or get out of business. You can’t stop growth.

Yeah and the Model-T ruined the blacksmith industry.

Narrow minded comment from someone with agenda 🙃

Mnuchin...another genius :(

We know the truth. You don’t like the Washington Post. You operate like the Gestapo.

Not agreeing or disagreeing: What laws or regulations did Amaon...? (Blockbuster at one time could have acquired Netflix for virtually a song. They passed.)

I thought Team Trumptards are anti Commie and let the business handle themselves? now they want to investigate a company which is equivalent to Marx's govt control of businesses.

Free market, capitalist system at work. Problem is, the current president has a petty, personal vendetta against Amazon so now we all have to be dragged in.

Go ahead and say it Mnuchin. Every entrepreneur who is more successful than trump should be investigated.

Pure nonsense.

Hell get a big check from Amazon next week.

It’s a bit of a grey area, they make nothing on retail sales just advertisements. It’s not illegal but it is destroying retail, no question.

Before it was walmart and now it is amazon. Hmmmm.

Biased premise. Consumers respond to incentives, the better question would be what government policies or social preferences are incentivizing consumers to prefer AMZN.

Amazon is retail. And we are buying more than ever.

My pocketbook says otherwise. Thank you, Amazon, Wal-Mart, Target and other retailers for being competitive.

Which is really the Washington post, but whatever

NRA and complicit politicians have destroyed the LIFE industry. Stop 'thinking and praying' and look into their practices...

This is the nail in coffin for Ronald Reagan’s GOP.

”Land of the free!” — Abolishing the free market. Hahaha.

Amazon or the consumer?

not at all it was just a Novel way of shopping with convenience and low prices...lack of Loyalty from Consumers destroyed American Retail!!

Absurd! They’re successful because they have absolutely everything you’d want and can get it delivered to your door. Only problem is sales tax. Just charge it by Order IP address.

HP calculators destroyed adding machines and present value tables.

Walmart was vilified for what Amazon has been doing since the year 2K except people have been cheering on Amazon since they are making money off the stock. This is Capitalism at its best! So, the folks who are saying “Amazon has destroyed the retail industry” are they Socialists?

Video killed the radio star. DVD destroyed the VHS. CD destroyed cassette tapes. Streaming is making all else extinct.

So much for the free market that the GOP likes to tout. I guess that’s only valid until the GOP President doesn’t like the CEO of a company.

What did you expect?!!!!! business smooth evolution

Amazon has created a business that supply’s consumers cheaper products with more convenience.

Its supper convenient and not expensive. Service is amazing and helps millions who can’t go to the stores (sick and disabled) to get it delivered to homes! Go Bezos, we love you and thank you for your vision! Munich comes and goes

Well...... Retail is Dead 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

Amazon has not become successful 'by not providing certain services that were wanted and desired. It enhanced retailing. Retailer can sell their stuff via Amazon.

Mnuchin has his own mess, but American retail can thrive if it isn't greedy, that's it.

Blockbuster should start surfing DVD and then streaming industry then!! Not!

Mnuchin needs to stuff it!

Just 10% of all retail sales are done online, not all of them through Amazon.

I have cut back on using Amazon. The quality of items have declined substantially. They have started letting to many bad sellers in

washingtonpost

Like a lot of things.......just waited around, doing nothing until KABOOM!! Not sure retail is destroyed.......perhaps just a different way of doing business. Just keep sitting around doing nothing and finish the decent to the end. Wake up! DO SOMETHING.....KEEP UP!!

Destroyed? They made it better! Now you can get most everything from amazon. What’s wrong with that?!

Too late. Where was antitrust 15 years ago ?

Amazon has created a global retail distribution channel to give millions of businesses access to sell goods. Altered the retail landscape, but certainly not destroyed it

Mall stores provide local jobs and boost local economies. When you buy locally even in a mall, you are helping your neighbor keep their job and helping their kids pay college expenses. Too many forget that.

The DNC and GOP have destroyed democracy, maybe DOJ should look into their practices

And software/music downloads destroyed the optical disc industry. Adobe PDF’s and electronic communications are destroying printing. Solar, wind and other renewables will likely destroy coal. SH”IT” happens.

Headline from 100 yrs ago: “Sears catalog has destroyed the retail industry.” Give it a rest, Mnuchen.

Walmart did this before Amazon, malls did so before Walmart, sears did so before the malls... Which shouldn't have been allowed?

Consumers decide who succeeds or fails.

Can’t blame it on Amazon. The offered a service, the consumer adopted it.

awelab1956 I shop on Amazon all the time, because it's easier. They do need to pay their fair share of taxes.

This shows how much of an idiot Mnuchin is.

There are a of retailers that stepped up & have grown with the times. Sears is not one of them. Mnuchin is on the Board at Sears. Sour Grapes-Mnuchin. It's internet, & technology. Many growing retailers are using AI to help redesign stores and drive traffic. Wake up Mnuchin.

Political attack because DJT 🤥💩 hates the Washington Post reporting the truth about DJT 🤥💩‼️CNBC complicity is shameful Munchkin is a stooge 🤥 to coverup what is a Putin like attempt to use threats of a bogus antitrust investigation to censor 🇺🇸free press‼️IMPEACH NOW ‼️

Amazon made it cheaper. If retailers want to compete they need to follow Wal-Mart's lead. Totally disagree, tho im not against amazon paying way more in taxes

This administration is ANTI BUSINESS

Too late

Destroyed or redefined?

No, as much as I hate Bezos being so damn powerful, he created a platform and 'Great' customer service and return policies. Furthermore any shenanigans from a seller Amazon deals with them aggressively. All those Retail stores could do the same and compete!

I like Amazon because it's convenient & don't have to worry about being racially profiled in a clothing store anymore...

Haven’t seen a mall closed around me, if anything might be better for global warming.

Can't blame that on Amazon. Consumers are the culprits: they have been voting with their dollars, and the results are in.

Just Mnuchin doing Trump’s anti-Bezos bidding.

....not too long after Walmart destroyed the retail industry.

stevenmnuchin1 wouldn’t know the retail industry if it sat on his face.

Will it destroy real estate ways also $RLGY

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