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For quite some time, the world of e-commerce has been the target of hate for the downfall of small businesses. But of all the e-commerce businesses around, Amazon is the target with the worst reputation.

This disruption of retail and small businesses from e-commerce (mainly Amazon) is what’s known as the “Amazon Effect.”

True enough, this retail giant, accounted for $63.4 billion in sales in the second quarter of 2019, according to Forbes, but did it really hurt or help small businesses? The reason Amazon has such a bad rap is typical because people don’t know what Amazon really is or does, and small business owners take the wrong approach with Amazon.

People have no clue what Amazon is or what it does behind the scenes…

For most people, when they’re looking up gift ideas or funny coffee mugs, they’ll hop right on Amazon and shop for all their heart’s desires… They enjoy the free or two-day shipping options and stare in amazement that anything they want, they can get through the site. But the moment they run across an article talking about how Amazon has stolen jobs from numerous hard-working Americans, they’re quick to share the negative information. All people see is the bad, without realizing that the reality is not as harsh as it may seem.

As of 2020, Amazon currently employs 840,000 workers. Not only is this e-commerce giant providing a virtual storefront for many small business owners, but it also provides hundreds of thousands of work opportunities for people in their corporate offices as well as their many warehouses.

Business owners take the wrong approach to Amazon…Whether you’re a budding or seasoned small business owner, your approach to increasing your sales, as it pertains to Amazon, is what will make or break your success.

All too often, small business owners enter the world of e-commerce with the idea of selling more than Amazon. Of course, entrepreneurship comes with an extremely competitive market, but when you set your competition level to “Amazon level,” you’re never going to achieve the result you’re hoping for in the timeframe you’ve given yourself. For one, Amazon has been in operation since 1994… that’s a long time to achieve the level of success that this at. Secondly, business owners need to change their mindsets and attitudes towards Amazon to see the real benefits it provides to small businesses. The company’s 2019 Small Business Impact Report tells us that 1.9 million businesses use Amazon to grow their business…

In fact, an Insureon poll revealed that over two-thirds of small business owners who sell products on the site stated that the e-commerce giant positively impacted their business…The bottom line is that your end goal doesn’t have to be to beat Amazon, instead, consider seeing how it can actually benefit your business like it’s helping other small businesses.

Amazon Can Work For Your Business or Against Your Business

Amazon can be your friend or your foe; It can work for your business or against it, and it’s going to be in the best interest of your business for Amazon to work for your business.

In case you weren’t aware, in May of this year, Amazon had around 2.5 billion visitors to its site. Becoming a merchant would give your business and product listings exposure to that level of potential sales. Now, imagine having that type of exposure and significantly profiting from it… Your opinion and attitude towards the e-commerce giant would completely change, wouldn’t it?

Amazon isn’t this monster corporation out to “get” small businesses; they’re out to help small businesses, actually. True enough, to be a successful merchant, you’ll have to do your research in choosing products that sell well on Amazon, devise an effective marketing strategy, and make sure you’re fully aware of all Amazon seller fees, but when your hard work pays off, you’ll look at the mega-company with a little more appreciation.

Impact of the “Amazon Effect”

There’s certainly no denying the fact that Amazon has made a huge impact on how the world buys and sells products. Some would argue that where the confusion lies is in whether the impact has been good or bad… Others would argue that there is no confusion, but rather a matter of “survival of the fittest.”

In the business economy, there’s always going to be some kind of pivot that brings about a learning curve for all businesses, and it just so happened that Amazon was one of those major learning curves. Knowing that, it’s up to smaller businesses to figure out how to make it through that curve or else fall off the cliff.

For the small businesses that have survived and know how to work with Amazon for the growth of your business, your entrepreneurial future looks pretty bright. You can enjoy continued success in making sales from anywhere in the world for many years to come.