With all the talk around a rumoured major Amazon office move into Vancouver downtown core (taking at least 91k SF of office space at Telus Garden, the $750M residential and commercial development near Pacific Centre under construction) we reached out to DIG360 Consulting's David Ian Gray, a recognized expert on shopping experience and retail trends.

Amazon has of course been active in the GVA market for some time. However Canadian consumers feel its offer here underwhelms in terms of price, shipping and choice compared with the US, David tells us. The challenge is there isn't efficient third-party shipping here. It's tough serving a population equivalent to California in the vast geography that is Canada, he adds. (That's why our birthday gift hasn't reached you guys yet, we swear.) Still, a more aggressive Amazon is putting fear in incumbent traditional retailers like Walmart, Target (image, Target's Coquitlam store), and Loblaws. "The CEO of Mountain Equipment Co-op has publicly shared his concern with the potential of Amazon impacting his business," David says.