If site search is something that Amazon does that badly (which they do), then why would you think that doing it well is the key to beating them? If it's not necessary to be a sales giant, then why assume it's sufficient?
This is a really fair question. Amazon doesn't do it well, but just about no one currently does it better. It's like looking at Yahoo or AltaVista before Google came out and saying they're plenty successful without having incredible search.
Of course, it's not the same, and retailers need to do a hundred other things correctly as well, but there is a lot of data to show that people go where the good search is.
Of course, it's not the same, and retailers need to do a hundred other things correctly as well, but there is a lot of data to show that people go where the good search is.