April 15th, 2009
Amazon now one-third of all U.S. e-commerce, analyst says
Amazon could be responsible for nearly a third of all U.S. e-commerce transactions, RBC Capital analyst Stephen Ju asserted in a research note this morning via Barron’s.
Amazon’s reported revenues are a mix of gross revenues from its own businesses plus net third-party commissions. Amazon’s never given concrete figures for these two areas other than as a percentage of units shipped, but the question is simple: how much third-party gross merchandise value is flowing through Amazon?
How much e-commerce is Amazon is actually facilitating?
According to Ju, it’s close to one-third and Amazon continues to gain share. Which is incredible, and notable in a deepening global recession.
The novelty of Amazon really hit home in the U.S. when it became widely-known that you could buy products online without paying sales tax. That fire continues to be stoked state by state, but if you think about just how much sales volume Amazon represents, it’s a wonder the federal government hasn’t had more inroads in the situation.
Still, all hasn’t been rosy in Seattle. The recent “Amazonfail” flareup over items that were incorrectly tagged as “adult” certainly hurt the online retailer, but a minor issue with the Kindle 2 hasn’t appeared to have hurt that product’s sales. What’s more, eBay made moves yesterday to get leaner and meaner.
Andrew J. Nusca is an associate editor for ZDNet and SmartPlanet.
See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
