Is The Department Store Model Doomed? This Pro Reveals 3 Different Competitive Threats

Jan Kniffen of J. Rogers Kniffen Worldwide was a guest on CNBC's "Squawk Box" segment to discuss the fate of department stores and where the competitive pressures are really coming from.

Kniffen started off by pointing out that Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN's business has seen a 27 percent growth at a time when many department stores and retailers themselves are reporting declines in sales and traffic.

Accordingly, he suggested that department stores will see the largest impact to their business from the surge in online clothes shopping being conducted on Amazon.

However, department stores have to worry about more than just competitive threats coming from Amazon.

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"Fast fashion gained share again this quarter, just like it has every year," he said. "Off-price gained share again this quarter, just like it has every year. Amazon has gained share again this quarter just like it has every year."

Nevertheless, Kniffen suggested that Macy's, Inc. M and Nordstrom, Inc. JWN will both stay "winners" in their respective spaces — but the "real question" is what will this look like on an ROI basis.

He continued that both Macy's and Nordstrom are the best omni-channel retailers right now, and they will both continue pouring money into online business. However, the problem is a retailer can build a brick-and-mortar store and then just needs to refurbish the space over time, but an online business needs to be continuously rebuilt.

As such, both Macy's and Nordstrom will be forced to spend "more money than they ever expected to." Over the longer term, both companies will "win" in the sense that they will be "left standing," but "they may not get the returns they had in the past."