Amazon - statistics & facts

More flexible selling strategies

Amazon serves as a global platform for first- and third-party sellers (3P). The former are vendors that sell goods directly to Amazon, who later re-sells them to final customers. The latter are independent sellers using Amazon as an e-commerce site to offer their products. 3P sales account for roughly 60 percent of total paid units on Amazon’s marketplace, and around the same share of 3P orders are completed via Amazon’s fulfillment services. However, exclusive use of third-party selling seems to be shrinking in the United States, with an increasing percentage of sellers opting for a hybrid first-part and third-part business scheme.

Prime services lure users to Amazon

Amazon also offers Amazon Prime, an annually paid membership giving free one-day delivery in the United States as well as discounted one-day shipping rates, which current users reckon is one of the key advantages of buying on the marketplace. Due to these exclusive services, satisfaction towards Amazon’s delivery conditions and discounted prices are generally much higher among Prime users, a global survey showed. Additionally, Amazon Prime has expanded to offer instant streaming of selected movies and television shows through Amazon Prime Video and Music.

Expanding in the non-food sector

Although Amazon made grocery delivery services available in several markets, most of its retail sales are due to non-food product categories. Electricals and fashion items contribute to over half of the marketplace’s global sales, while fashion and apparel articles are the merchandise expected to grow the most in the next years. This would partially benefit small and medium-sized businesses selling on Amazon, as nearly 20 percent of them sold clothing, shoes, and jewelry on the marketplace in 2021.

Web traffic to Amazon

Amazon’s popularity is so strong that the share of direct traffic overshadows other web traffic sources. The e-commerce platform counts 2.5 billion monthly visits worldwide, with 2.9 billion visits peaking during the holiday season. Due to its endless selection of products, Amazon has become a sort of search engine for items. In the United States, six in ten consumers’ product research started on Amazon, probably due to the significant number of customer reviews posted on the platform.

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