According to Amazon, the company hit record sale numbers, thanks in part to small and mid-sized businesses which account for an estimated 50% of items sold on Amazon. There are currently about one million small businesses utilizing the platform in the US alone.
The record number was the result of “more items being ordered worldwide than ever before, much of which thanks to users signing up for Prime free trials. “In the US Amazon said more than one billion items were shipped for free this holiday with Prime. This includes millions of unique items with Prime FREE Same-Day, Prime FREE One-Day or FREE two-hour delivery with Prime Now.”
While this may seem as an expense from first glance, Amazon Prime has a renewal rate of 90%. This means that, in 2019, “Amazon will most likely be announcing yet another record-breaking holiday shopping season.”
The company also encourages local small businesses to become part of the Amazon ecosystem. It does this by providing loans, which was up to more than $1 billion in 2017 and other business opportunities.
