Amazon increases dominance in the US market

A whopping 42% of consumers are buying the majority of their goods on Amazon, an 83% growth since the onset of the pandemic

Credit: Amazon.com, Inc.

A survey conducted by Convey has shown that despite US customers pledging to ‘shop small’ during the pandemic, Amazon’s dominance continues to grow.

The consumer survey suggests the average American’s sentiment toward the retailer has in fact improved over the pandemic period and concerns about their environmental impact are dwindling.

The reliance on Amazon whilst stores have been closed drove the online giant’s consumer base up considerably, with the number of people buying 75 -100% of their products on Amazon (11%) doubling over the past year.

According to 73% of customers, this is due to their ‘fast, free shipping’, followed by their subscription as an Amazon Prime member (67%) and ‘easy and convenient purchase process’ (58%).

Eighty-seven percent of consumers identified the delivery experience as important to the overall online shopping experience. US consumers’ loyalty to Amazon is being increased by the perception of the brand’s ability to fulfil in the last-mile, with nearly half of Americans (49%) shopping at Amazon because they ‘trust their packages will be delivered when promised’ and 1 in 5 (19%) choosing Amazon for its ‘proactive communication during delivery’.

This has led to an increasingly positive view in the retail giant, with 52% of respondents believing Amazon has a positive impact on the retail industry as a whole – a figure up 14% since the pandemic began.

Thirty-six percent now also say Amazon has a positive impact on the environment, and only one in five say Amazon has been bad for the environment, a decrease of 25%. This is not the same for younger shoppers, however, where 32% say they believe Amazon has a negative impact.

Despite pledges to support small businesses from many American shoppers (95% said they felt it was important to support those hurt by COVID-19 shutdowns), the high costs of their products and shipping drove many to Amazon. Forty-one percent of those who said it was important to support businesses still admit to purchasing at least half of their goods on Amazon. The top reasons for this were higher item cost (35%), higher shipping cost (23%), and longer shipping times (21%).

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