Huge news for people who like to shop at Kmart
With the impending arrival of Amazon set to shake up the Australian retail market, Kmart managing director Ian Bailey has made a vow to Aussie shoppers.
Mr Bailey has already announced a swathe of dramatic price cuts and vowed to price-match the international e-commerce giant wherever possible.
Mr Bailey told News.com.au, “Our goal will be to be at or below Amazon. I think the question will be whether they match us or not.”
“On the price front we’re pretty aggressive,” Mr Bailey added. “We keep dropping our prices because we know it’s great for customers, and makes it difficult for our competitors to match us.”
The price-match promise comes after the 20 per cent price drop on 320 products announced earlier this week, due to the company’s decision to produce the products at a mega-factory in Indonesia.
Mr Bailey was quick to point out this would not kill off Aussie jobs.
“With a bit of luck, it’ll cause them to increase,” he said. “As we keep rolling out stores, we keep employing more people — our numbers are up to 30,000 and each time we open a new store we employ another 150 or so. We’ve been opening roughly 10 a year for quite awhile, which continues to be our plan.”
What do you think about this price match promise? Are you concerned about Amazon’s arrival in Australia? Or do you think it will help local retailers lift their game?