And pigs could fly and hell could freeze over and we could discover that the Earth is flat. All of those things could happen in 2018, but Amazon buying Target is considerably more likely than all those other possibilities, at least according to one analyst.

Amazon is eager to get deeper into the brick-and-mortar game. After all, Walmart is their biggest (and pretty much only) competitor, so Amazon needs a big presence in the physical realm if Bezos ever hopes to sit on the throne as King of All Commerce. Amazon purchased Whole Foods, which gives them a foothold into the grocery industry, but they need a retail giant in their pocket. Target could be that giant, and according to market analyst and all-around iPhone lover Gene Munster, they probably will be.

Munster’s biggest prediction for 2018 is Amazon buying Target, which would give Amazon a combined total of 2,300 physical locations. Munster calls Target the “ideal offline partner” for Amazon, largely thanks to their mom-centric approach, a demographic that Amazon is targeting as well. Costco is another big competitor of Walmart’s, but unlike Target, Costco is doing well and isn’t in need of a lifeline. Target’s stock has been going down since 2015 and they just hit a five-year low. Target could see this as a viable way to stay afloat. Not to mention that Costco only has 741 locations in the United States, whereas Target has just under 2,000.

Bezos could have one very high-profile enemy in this situation: Donald Trump. Trump is no fan of Bezos, taking specific issue with The Washington Post, which Bezos acquired in 2013. A deal as big as Amazon buying Target would have to go under review and that could be Trump’s opportunity to stick it to the Amazon founder. Will 2018 be the year of Bezos? Is this the decade of Bezos?

Will we ever escape Bezos?!

 

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