New figures published by Amazon show that their marketplace features are in rude good health as they enter 2015.
They report that 3rd party sellers sold more than 2 billion items in 2014 and that represent 40% of all Amazon sales. That’s good news for Amazon because this is the high margin part/low effort part of their ecommerce business.
And these strong Amazon Marketplace numbers have also driven an increase in adoption of the Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) service which sees Amazon hold stock and fulfil stock on behalf of sellers for a fee.
Amazon reports it shifted 50% more units using FBA in the run-up to Christmas 2014. And sellers have become more adept at attracting buyers using deals: they increased by 250%.
What’s not clear is whether the numbers of sellers has increased significantly. Amazon reports that it has 2 million sellers around the world in more than 100 different countries. And that’s roughly what they said last year. Sellers in China and Hong Kong are reported to have grown 80%.
Whilst there are concerns that Amazon uses marketplace data to undermine 3rd party sales to undercut on price with its own sales, it remains true that Amazon is a key opportunity for ecommerce SMEs looking to grow.
