In his new book, Clash: Amazon vs Walmart, SMU Lee Kong Chian Professor of Marketing Nirmalya Kumar gave an analytical account of the fight between the world’s largest retailers, Walmart and Amazon, in their home market of the United States. The book is intended as a warning for all those who are bullish on e-commerce around the world. Prof Nirmalya noted that Amazon still loses tens of billions of dollars every year in online retailing in North America, which contributes a majority of its retailing revenues worldwide. He wrote, “Amazon, no matter its fame for exceptional execution, is a terribly run business when it comes to capital efficiency by traditional standards.”
