Amazon to invest US$18bn to help SMB sale growth

In a recent announcement made by Amazon at its Amazon Accelerate summit - the company’s largest event to provide existing and potential sellers with insights and ideas to thrive in Amazon’s store. 

The company reports its ambitions to invest US$18bn in 2020 - to help independent businesses - is on track. Investments made by Amazon include: logistics, tools, services, programs and people. 

Beginning in January 2020, Amazon has launched over 135 free tools and services to help sellers grow their sales. Over the next twelve months Amazon aims to provide 500,000 US small and medium businesses (SMBs) selling on Amazon with guidance, education and support. In addition the company plans to onboard 100,000 additional US businesses.

Amazon reports that despite the impact COVID-19 has had on small businesses, many selling through Amazon have continued to experience growth. “Third-party sellers continue to account for more than half of all units sold in Amazon’s store, and even during the pandemic, third-party sales continued to grow faster than Amazon’s first-party sales. In the twelve-month period ending in May,” commented Amazon.

Compared to 2019, Amazon also reported that American SMB sellers sold over 3.4bn products, up from 2.7bn year-on-year, averaging US$160,000 in sales.

“At Amazon, our mission is to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, and part of fulfilling that mission is connecting small businesses with customers,” commented Jeff Wilke, CEO Worldwide Consumer at Amazon. 

“Amazon’s success is directly tied to the success of independent businesses across the U.S. We are passionate about supporting small businesses, investing and inventing on their behalf to help them be resilient through COVID-19 and beyond.”

Other plans announced by Amazon include an investment of US$100mn to help SMBs increase their sales and reach new customers during Prime Day and the holiday seasons. Last year, SMBs exceeded US$2bn in global sales on Prime Day, the investment of US$100mn will contribute to putting a spotlight on the diversity of small businesses. 

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